In Trinidad and Tobago, the vibrant street food culture is an essential part of everyday life, offering a delightful array of flavors that reflect the island’s diverse heritage.
Among the many beloved snacks, Cup ah Channa, also known simply as boil channa stands out as a favorite, particularly popular among late-night revelers and street food enthusiasts.
Cup ah Channa—often served in a simple styrofoam cup—is a variation of boiled channa, or chickpeas, and is known for its satisfying and savory taste. This dish is particularly popular at bars, parties, and roadside stalls, where it’s enjoyed as a hearty snack after a night of liming (Trinidadian slang for hanging out or socializing). Its popularity can be attributed to its filling nature and the fact that it’s an excellent remedy for a hangover, making it a go-to choice for many after a night of drinking.
Cup Ah Channa-Indian Heritage:
Boil channa has deep roots in Trinidad’s culinary traditions, influenced by the island’s Indian heritage. The Indian indentured laborers who arrived in Trinidad in the 19th century brought with them a wealth of culinary knowledge, including the use of chickpeas (known as channa in Hindi). (The most famous of all chickpea recipes in Trinidad is doubles. See the recipe link below.)
Over time, these flavors were adapted and blended with local ingredients, giving rise to a uniquely Trinidadian version of the dish. While traditionally, boil channa is enjoyed with hops bread—a soft, pillowy bread roll popular in Trinidad—it can be served with roti or rice, offering a versatile base for soaking up the rich flavors.
What sets this channa dish apart is the method of preparation. While my original doubles channa recipe suggests adding seasonings like bandhania (shadow beni, chandon beni, culantro), garlic, hot pepper, and pimento at the end of cooking, this version incorporates them from the start, allowing the flavors to infuse the chickpeas early and deeply. The use of an Instant Pot not only speeds up the cooking process but also ensures that the chickpeas achieve the perfect tender texture, while the sauté feature helps to thicken the sauce, concentrating the flavors.
This dish is a wonderful representation of Trinidadian street/snack food, offering a taste that is both comforting and deeply satisfying. Whether you’re enjoying it as a snack, a meal on the go, or a cure for last night’s excesses, Cup ah Channa is sure to delight your taste buds.
Cup ah Channa is a simple yet flavorful dish that comes together with just a few key steps:
1. Soak the Chickpeas
2. Prepare the Seasonings—or use pre-prepared green seasoning
3. Cook the Chickpeas
4. Mash and Sauté
5. Final Seasoning
6. Serve
What if I do not have an Instant Pot:
Similar to the method used for my doubles channa recipe here, place the chickpeas in a pot with water over high heat on the stove. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 60-90 mins or until the chickpeas are soft. At the end of cooking, stir for 5 minutes continuously to thicken and bring in the texture.
How to serve cup ah channa / boiled channa:
I have developed this simple versatile recipe so that it can be easily enjoyed in various ways:
1. Cup ah channa, is served as a snack in a cup, as mentioned before, hence its name cup ah channa. ‘Ah’ in this instance is a Trini slang for ‘of’ – a cup of channa.
2. If you want an even more satisfying meal, you can use this recipe to make an easier version of doubles. See the doubles bara recipe here.
3. Boil channa can also be eaten with hops bread (asn in Trinidad Bread and Channa). This recipe is so versatile it can work for any of those traditional methods, including stuffed in a hops bread or eaten with homemade bread. Check out those recipes as well.
4. If you need more options, this channa recipe can be enjoyed with any type of roti, mainly sada roti. For a more elaborate meal, enjoy with buss up shot roti (paratha), dosti roti, or dhalpuri roti.
5. Enjoy over rice and a lovely and simple Trini salad(recipe coming soon).
How is this cup ah channa / boiled channa recipe different from Curry Channa and Aloo?
Well, the simple reason is that this recipe does not contain curry or aloo (potato) and there is no chunkaying involved. Chunkaying is the art of cooking protein/vegetables or in this case, chickpeas in a hot oil/curry mixture to develop the flavors. All the ingredients are boiled together, hence the other term, boiled channa.
Ingredients You Need to Make Cup Ah Channa / Boiled Channa
• dried chickpeas
• water
• turmeric powder
• bandhania- also known as culantro, recao, shado beni, chandon beni
• garlic
• pimento peppers, minced
• Hot pepper, to taste
•ground roasted cumin
• salt, or to taste
Enjoy!
Other recipes you will love:
Trinidad Doubles Recipe (Find Roasted Pepper Sauce, Cucumber and Bandhania Chutney Recipes here as well)
Instant Pot Curry Channa and Aloo
Trinidad Boiled Channa / Cup ah Channa
Ingredients
- 1- pound chickpeas
- 6 cups water
- 1-2 teaspoons turmeric powder.
- 4 tablespoons minced bandhania or green seasoning
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 pimento peppers minced
- hot pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground roasted cumin
- 4 tablespoons minced bandhania aka culantro, shad beni, recao
- 5 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Soak the Chickpeas: Start by soaking 1 pound of chickpeas overnight. This softens them and reduces the cooking time.
- Prepare the Seasonings: Mince 4 tablespoons of bandhania, 3 tablespoons of garlic, 2 pimento peppers, and hot pepper to taste. Set half of these seasonings aside.
- Cook the Chickpeas: Place the soaked chickpeas in an Instant Pot along with 6 cups of water, 1-2 teaspoons of turmeric powder, 5 teaspoons of salt(or to taste), and half of the prepared seasonings. Select beans - 20 minutes.
- Mash and Sauté: After cooking, release the pressure, stir, and mash about a cup of the chickpeas to create a thicker texture. Use the sauté function on the Instant Pot and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce and thicken.
- Final Seasoning: Add the remaining minced bandhania, garlic, pimento peppers, 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground roasted cumin, and any additional salt if needed. Stir well and continue cooking until all the flavors are well combined.
