Chin chin is a simple snack that can be enjoyed alone or paired with fried peanuts and soft drinks. Chin chin is so easy to make and it is commonly prepared during some important festive periods like Christmas, New Year and anniversaries. Chin chin is basically prepared with flour, sugar, milk and eggs, however, it has a perfect balance of sweetness and crunch due to some of these ingredients.
Africa has an abundance of quick, easy and delicious snack food, such as chin-chin, buns, puff puff, small chop, and host of others, however, Christmas season wouldn’t be complete without chin chin in many homes. Chin chin as the name implies, is indeed a perfect snack for visitor and kids. You can never go wrong when adding different blend of flavors to your chin such like vanilla, banana essence milk and cinnamon. Different people use different flavor when making their chin chin, but personally I love the vanilla flavor, it adds some natural taste and flavor to the chin chin after it has been fried. You can check out this banana flavoured chin chin here.
Apart from frying chin chin in vegetable oil, you can also choose to bake your chin chin in the oven if you are the type that doesn’t really like oily food, but even if you choose to fry your chin chin with oil if you follow this method, your chin won’t soak much oil after it has been fried.
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Tips on How to Fry the Best Nigerian Chin Chin
- Add a little baking powder to mix your chin chin to achieve a soft crunch outcome, otherwise your chin would be left dried and hard to chew.
- Add water to the chin when you notice it too dry and try mixing it again to blend.
- Do not add to much butter or baking powder to your chin, too much of these will cause your chin to fall apart in the oil during the frying process.
- Go easy with egg to much eggs can cause your oil to become foamy and may however overflow to the top during the process.
- You can choose to dilute your milk before adding it to the chin chin that is if you are using powdered milk.
- If you want to achieve the perfect Nigerian smooth and crunchy chin chin, stick to only plain flour, which is the all-purpose flour, and do not use self-rising flour or gluten-free flour for this recipe.
The amounts of sugar you add to your chin chin should depend on your taste; therefore watch the quantity of sugar you add, so that you dont end up with overly sweet chin chin. - Milk flavor enhances the taste and flavor of chin chin, try adding this scenting flavor to achieve a milkish chin chin as your outcome.
- If you want to make a larger quantity of chin chi, just simply double the flour and few other ingredients.
- If you are making your chin chin for sale or for commercial purpose, you will need to increase or take out some ingredients and also add more milk flavor to it.
- A pasta machine helps in rolling out the dough and shaping it, if you have that make use of it otherwise use your hands for this.
- Chin chin can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.
Chin Chin Ingredients
- 3 cups of plain flour (all-purpose flour (375 grams)
- 2-3 large eggs, optional
- 1cup of evaporated milk (peak milk) or 150g powdered milk
- 200g granulated sugar
- 250g of butter (margarine)
- 1 tablespoon of milk flavour
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Chin Chin ingredients
Steps on How to Fry Crunchy Vanilla Chin Chin
- Sift the flour into a large bowl and add all the dry ingredients into it.
- Mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer. (Baking powder, salt, sugar, nutmeg and milk flavour).
- Add the butter to the flour and mix well until the flour turns crumbly.
- Introduce the milk and egg into the mixture; use your hands to mix until it forms sticky dough.
- Add a little flour to the dough and knead if required until it turns elastic, smooth and manageable. Mould the dough into a ball and set aside.
- Dust your flat surface with a little flour and then transfer the dough to the surface.
- Share the dough into two or three equal parts depending on the size of your dough.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out each of the balls to about 1 inch thick, one after the other
- Use a pizza cutter or small knife to slice the flattened dough in a straight line into vertical strips and then into horizontal stripes as well, depending on the shapes and sizes that you want. Note: you can cut your chin-chin into different shapes and sizes.
- Add oil deep enough for your chin chin in a skillet or pan and place on heat, drop one of the dough into the oil to check if it hot first. To know if the oil is hot enough, you will notice the raw chin chin you have added sizzling and rising to the surface immediately you did that. You can also use oven to roast your chin chin.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chin chin into the oil and fry in batches, dont over crowed your pan while frying.
- Fry the chin chin in batches until golden. Once you are happy with their appearance, remove from the oil, drain in a paper towel and keep it in an open space to drain and cool completely. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and then serve afterward with chilled drinks.
Easy Steps on How to fry Crunchy Vanilla Chin Chin with Pictures
1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add all the dry ingredients into it.
2. Mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer. (Baking powder, sugar, nutmeg and milk flavour).
Combining of dry ingredients to the flour make chin chin
3. Add the butter to the flour and mix well until the flour turns crumbly.
4. Introduce the milk and egg into the mixture; use your hands to mix until it forms sticky dough.
Mixing process of chin chin ingredients
5. Add a little flour to the dough and knead if required until it turns elastic, smooth and manageable. Mould the dough into a ball and set aside.
Still on the mixing process of chin chin
Once the dough is smooth, manageable and not sticky, set it time roll out the dough
Smooth and manageable chin chin dough
6. Dust your flat surface with a little flour and then transfer the dough to the surface to roll it out.
7. Share the dough into two or three equal parts depending on the size of your dough.
8. Use a rolling pin to roll out each of the balls to about 1 inch thick, one after the other
Rolling of the dough, if you don’t have a rolling pin for this, a smooth bear bottle can be used instead , it works well too
9. Use a pizza cutter or small knife to slice the flattened dough in a straight line into vertical strips and then into horizontal stripes as well, depending on the shapes and sizes that you want. Note: you can cut your chin-chin into different shapes and sizes.
Cutting of the flattened dough for chin chin. A knife can be used to achieve this
You can cut your chin chin into different sizes and shapes, depending on the type you prefer
10. Add oil deep enough for your chin chin in a skillet or pan and place on heat, drop one of the dough into the oil to check if it hot first. To know if the oil is hot enough, you will notice the raw chin chin you have added sizzling and rising to the surface immediately you did that. You can also use oven to roast your chin chin.
The oil should be just enough to fry all the chin chin
11. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chin chin into the oil and fry in batches, dont overcrowed your pan while frying.
Chin chin fries best in very hot oil, make sure you stand by to stir and once you are happy with the color, take the chin chin out from the oil so they don’t get burn
12.Fry the chin chin in batches until golden. Once you are happy with their appearance, remove from the oil, drain in a paper towel and keep it in an open space to drain and cool completely. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and then serve afterward with chilled drinks.
Drain chin chin in paper towel once cooked, before packaging
Best crunchy vanilla chin chin
Chin chin is best serve with chilled drinks. Chin chin should be left open to cool completely before packing