You know the saying – once you pop you just can’t stop, right? That’s the best way to explain how good a handful of crunchy chin chin is, especially when it has the right amount of sugar with the hint of nutmeg that warms your heart right after. You can always find these yummy snacks in your local African market, but I always prefer making mine from scratch because it just tastes better and fresher. I also get to control the amount of sugar that is put into the recipe. As with my recipe below, feel free to adjust the sugar level to your liking. These grab and go snacks are the perfect treat to share or to secretly indulge. Shhh! I wont tell anyone.
6 Steps to Your Crunchy Chin Chin
Hot and Crunchy Chin Chin
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour (285g)
2 tablespoons of flour for surface
1/2 cup of sugar (60g)
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
1/4 cup of evaporated milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of baking powder
Oil for frying
Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients together into a bowl and mix well until the dough forms. You may add cold water by the teaspoon little by little if needed.
2. Cover the bowl with the dough in it for 10 minutes. This allows the gluten to develop and makes for a crunchy and tasty chin-chin.
3. Lay foil down on the counter and sprinkle about 1 – 1.5 tablespoons of flour to prevent the dough from sticking when flattened.
4. Unwrap the rested dough and use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough onto the floured surface. The rolling pin helps keep the dough evenly pressed and rolled out. The thickness of your chin-chin is your choice, but I do prefer a 1/2 centimeter thickness. Also make sure to not over work the dough. Work quickly with this dough, no need to get an arm exercise here.
5. Heat the oil for frying.
6. Once flattened, sprinkle and spread a little bit more flour on top of the dough right before cutting. Use a pizza slicer (preferred) or knife to cut the dough along both vertically and horizontally into small square-shaped goodies.
7. Add the cut bite-sized dough into the oil to fry, watching it until it turn a light golden brown color. Do not walk away! Mix occasionally to make sure the sides are evenly cooked.
8. Remove the light brown chin-chin from the oil and place on a paper towel lined surface to drain and cool. The chin-chin will be soft when it is fresh from the pan, but trust and believe, when it has cooled down, you should get a nice crunch that keeps you from eating just one!
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