The Best Nigerian Chinchin Recipe To Make!
Perfectly Crunchy, Rich in flavour and Quite Addictive, this is the best chinchin recipe you'll see on the internet today.
It is one of those snacks that though time consuming, it has a very simple and straightforward recipe and provided you use the right measurement and heat, you can never go wrong with it.
Growing up, this scrumptious snacks is often made during the Christmas season in most homes (it's probably in our constitution😉) but with time it became a regular snacks you can just get in any shops.
I learnt how to make chinchin from my cousin that was once staying with us, I watched how she made it every step of the way, copied her recipe and made mine. It was so perfect, you need to see how happy I was that day to think that the first pastry I made turned out well. From that day, I've made chinchin over and over again and I can't recall having any bad chinchin experience. It's like we're made for each other, it agrees with me and I agree with it. I've also tried out some flavours like coconut, chocolate, vanilla etc and I still have so many others I still want to try out, I mean the options are limitless.
WATCH HOW I MAKE THE NIGERIAN CHINCHIN
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INGREDIENTS:
- 8 cups all-purpose flour (1 kg)
- 1cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter/margarine - softened 8 tablespoons or 1 stick or 113 grams
- 1 cup milk 240 ml (or 4 tablespoon powdered milk)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of concentrated milk flavour or 3 tablespoon of powdered milk flavour (optional)
- Water - if needed (1-1/2 cup if using powdered milk)
- Oil for frying - I used vegetable oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, a pinch of salt, freshly grated nutmeg, milk flavour if using the powdered one).
2. Add the room temperature butter and mix till well until combined and the mixture has a crumblike texture.
3. In another bowl, mix together the eggs and milk, add the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix to form a dough (add some sprinkles of water if too dry and couldn't form together) then leave to rest for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer the dough onto a floured working surface and lightly knead till smooth and no longer sticky.
5. Cut out a portion of the dough (about the size of a golf ball). Roll the dough into about 1/8 inch thick.
6. Cut into 1-inch squares or thin strips (about 1 by 5 inch) using either a knife, a pizza cutter or a pasta maker.
7. Heat up oil (about 1-1/2 litres) in a frying pot or pan for 10 minute or till hot enough.
8. Gently collect some batches of the raw chinchin an place in the hot oil. and start frying the chinchin in small batches. Start stirring immediately with a spoon, shaking from side to side till all the pieces of Chin Chin come apart.
9. Keep stirring at intervals till the Chin Chin turns golden brown. When it browns to your liking, scoop into a sieve lined with a paper towel to drain the excess oil. Then fry the rest of the diced raw chin chin in batches
10. Spread them out in a tray, allow to cool down completely and store in an airtight container, it can store for up to a month that is if you don't finish it on the first one week lol.
NOTES AND TIPS FOR THE BEST CHINCHIN:
- For a hard chinchin, reduce the butter and skip the eggs.
- For a softer chinchin, increase the quantity of butter, 1 or 2 tablespoon more. Be careful not to use too much butter or your chin chin will crumble as you're frying.
- Do not overcrowd the frying pan when frying Chin Chin. This not only make the chinchin to start soaking up oil, it also makes the oil to start foaming. Fry only a small quantity of Chin Chin at once.
- To save time, you could be rolling out more dough and cutting on the side while gradually frying the already cut out dough. It takes more time to fry only a small quantity of Chin Chin at once but it is worth the wait!
- To test for hotness of the oil, throw a piece of cut dough into the oil, if it sizzles and comes to the surface, then the oil is hot enough.
- Always fry on low-medium heat to avoid the chinchin from browning too quickly. Also note that as the chinchin cools down, the colour become browner, so don't wait till it's entirely brown to remove it from the fire.
- You could just use your hands to form small balls out of the dough or you could even use small cookie cutters to cut out your Chin Chin and deep fry.
- If you're going to skip the milk flavour, ensure you use evaporated milk (1 tin) to get that rich milky taste and flavour.
- I heard that adding some lime or lemon zest helps to act as a preservative, I don't know how true that is but all I know is that it'll sure add a burst of citrus flavour.
- For rolling out the dough, use a rolling pin, an old beer or gin bottle, or just anything with a smooth surface.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #onceuponafoodlover or tag me @onceuponafoodlover. I would love to see!
Happy Cooking!
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