Search no further, this is it. The Nigerian chin chin recipe you have been searching for. Sounds cocky right? But this really is it. Try it and see. Chin chin is a very common Fried West African snack. It is a delightfully tasty crunchy snack.
WARNING: Once you start munching, you would have to be restrained to stop.
Even as this snack is commonly enjoyed in Nigeria, not all chin chins are made equal. Some are overtly sweet, or tasteless, while some are just an oil soaked mess.
Growing up I helped my mom make chinchin a lot during the Christmas season. We always looked forward to making this delightful snack during the Christmas holidays.
Table of Contents
Why does my chinchin soak up oil?
One of our readers asked this question in the comments so I decided to update the post to include the answer. Thank you Yemi for taking out time to drop your comment. You are appreciated ❤️
Sometimes you find that your chin chin is soggy or has soaked up a lot of oil here are a few reasons why?
- The Oil wasn’t hot enough.
- The Oil wasn’t enough for the amount of chin chin dough being fried.
- The Oil was Overcrowded. Overcrowding the oil lowers the oil temperature and we are back to no 1 point above
How to prevent chinchin from soaking up a lot Oil when frying.
- The oil wasn’t hot enough: Before you frying the chin chin. Always test the heated oil by putting a piece of chin chin in the oil . If oil bubbles and the piece of chin chin comes up immediately then the oil is ready for frying.
- The Oil wasn’t enough for the amount of chin chin dough being fried:
Always fry your chin chin with enough oil. Frying chin chin requires deep frying which requires enough oil. - Overcrowding the oil with dough: Make sure you have enough oil to fry your dough. Too much dough overcrowds the and doesn’t allow adequate frying by lowering the temperature of the oil and making the dough soak up oil.
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How do I stop the oil used to fry chin chin from bubbling over and spilling?
Most time this happens when you are frying a second batch of the chin chin dough. I have observed that this happens only when my dough is made with butter. When I make chin chin with magerine , i can fry the whole batch with the same batch without having the oil bubble up and spill over.
But since I prefer the texture and taste of chin chin made with butter here are a few tips
- If you are making a large quantity, use a large pot to fill in oil to accommodate large chin chin dough for each batch then Change the oil after each batch.
- If you are making a small quantity, Use a large pot to accommodate the amount of oil needed to fry the chin-chin in one batch.
It was part of our travel package. We travelled home to our village (country home) every Christmas. So this chin chin served as our snack and also as gifts to visitors. Trust me we never got tired of munching on these and you too will not. Read warning above.
These are soft and almost crumbly on the inside and crunchy on the outside. So not to worry no jaw breakers here. ?. These little delights are ‘CROFT’ in my son’s words meaning Crunchy and Soft You get the drift right. The young man is a foodie at heart creating a portmanteau for food lol. But if Kamso says this is good, Believe me it is ?
Now let’s get to this amazing ‘CROFT’ chin chin recipe ?
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Recommended Products for making best chin chin
1. Pottella deep square 9.5″ copper pan: it has a frying basket, a steamer tray plus you get a free cookbook with it.
2. Frying spoon: This one comes in a set of three. Best value.
3. 32 oz clear plastic storage jars: These come in a set of 6. I reserve 2 for chin-chin and use the rest for storing other pantry staples like oats.
4. Oggi four piece acrylic canister set: Also great for storage.
5. Paper Towel: To absorb excess oil after frying and before storage.
6. Serving bowls: These are perfect to serve your chinchin with.
PIN FOR LATER
Nigerian Chin chin
Ingredients
- 280g (1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) all purpose flour
- 82g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 57g (4 Tbsp) salted butter
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Measure and Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Measure and mix wet ingredients together except butter.
- Add butter to the dry ingredients and mix with your fingers until just combined.
- Pour in the other wet ingredients and mix together until dough forms. it should form a perfect dough but if its feels a bit stiff, add a Tbsp of water or milk. if it feels too tacky, add a Tbsp or 2 of flour no more. DO NOT over work the dough.
- Wrap in a saran wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 5 mins. this allows flavors blend in and develops the gluten which makes it easier during the cutting process
- Unwrap rested dough, you can roll out all the dough at once since dough is small or you can divide into 2 portions and roll individually. Roll out dough to about a quarter of an inch thick because dough will rise when you fry them.
- With a knife or pizza cutter or even a dough divider cut dough across vertically and horizontally forming little squares.
- Put little squares in a bowl and sprinkle a little flour on them and shake to prevent sticking.
- Heat up oil. Fry till light golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and spread on a paper towel lined tray to cool. Chin chin will be soft when hot but hardens as it cools.
Notes
I just made this today and it turned out great!!! Thanks for this lovely Recipe. Cheers!
Hi Dolapo,
You just made my day. Thank you for taking out time to leave me a comment and for trying the recipe. Happy you enjoyed it. Stay safe and well.
-Chichi
PS- If you love video recipes, please subscribe to my YouTube channel below and share with your family and friends it’s free!
https://www.youtube.com/c/MyDiasporaKitchen
Thank you
Hello chi chi thank you for the recipe, is there any after remedy for a soaked chin chin?
If I want to make chin chin for sell,what are the optional ingredients? So as to reduce cost of production?
Lastly if making chin chin for sell, is it better i fry or bake, because I feel if I should fry it, the cost of production will be high
Will be glad to get feedback soonest 😭🙏🙏
Hi Oluchi,
Unfortunately there is not remedy for soaked chin chin. The best thing is to prevent it from happening.
However, You can try to make it more edible by spreading it on a paper towel lined tray then dabbing the top of the chin chin with more paper towel to help absorb excess oil. This will only make it edible for you and not for sale to the public.
As per Chin chin for sale, Your method of choice for production (fried or baked) would depend on what your customers want.
If you are serving the general public they may prefer deep fried chin chin. If you are serving fit fam then they may want baked.
Do your survey, who do you want to serve, then start from there. That will determine your cost of production and final price of your product. Hope this helped. Stay safe and well.
– Chichi
Recipe was great and easy. I made it with my son. I made another batch instantly and doubled the measurements. Came out great and delicious. I saved the rest in ziplock bag for latter time. 🙌
Awesome Kunbi! Happy you enjoyed it and that you also spent some quality time with your son, 🤗 I love that. You did the right thing doubling the recipe and saving for later, this chin chin finishes super fast 😀 stay safe and well.
-Chichi
PS: Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and share with family and friends it’s free! Thank
you.
Subscribe ⬇️
https://www.youtube.com/c/MyDiasporaKitchen
Is it necessary to add baking powder
Hi Happiness,
For this recipe, yes it is. It makes it crunchy and airy. If you skip it, the chin chin will be very hard. Hope that answers your question. Thank you for stopping by.
-Chichi
any other recipe for the chin chin apart from the one listed above
Hi Faith,
I’m not sure I understand your question. Is there a particular recipe your are looking for? Let me know so I can help you. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe!
– Chichi
How do I make my chinchin to be very hard, I don’t aad baking powder and egg but it is always soft.
Hi Chinomso,
I don’t quite understand, Did you try this recipe yet? Let me know. Thanks.
– Chichi
Pls I don’t really understand the meaurement…..I have the measurements cups…which is 250gram..and below pls help me out
Hi Hope,
I don’t quite understand what you mean by 250g for a cup. Do you have a kitchen scale? That might be better. If you don’t have a scale, can you explain your question better so I can understand and be in a better position to help you out.
-Chichi
Would you believe I made this in under one hour. It was delicious. I experienced a tacky dough during my hand kneading but cautiously added 2 tablespoonful of flour. I also noticed dough sweated whole wrapped in Saran, so I sprinkled some light Flour on the surface used for rolling out the dough. Overall, the recipe was perfect. First time ever making these.
Hi Lem,
That’s awesome! Thank you so much for your detailed feedback. You took Perfect steps and did all the right things. Good job! Enjoy your chin chin and save me some if you can 😉 stay safe!
– Chichi
I followed by your recipe exactly, but any time I put the chin chin it doesn’t fry , everything starts to melt , why is this happening please
Hi Peace,
I am sorry to hear you are having this issue. I haven’t actually experienced it. Here are a few things I think might be the problem.
1. Did you measure your ingredients correctly?
2. Was the oil hot enough.
3. Check the consistency of your dough, it shouldn’t be sticky before frying. If it’s is sticky when you are at the rolling out stage, dust with more flour.
Hope this helps. Let me know.
-Chichi
Thank you so much .
You are welcome!
Thanks for the recepie chichi. Please how can I air fry my chin chin.
Hi Florence,
You are welcome. I am actually working on an air fryer chin chin recipe. Depending on your air fryer I would suggest you air fry at 370 F for 25 mins. (It’s a suggestion as I am still trying it out) I will let you know when I finish recipe testing.
Thank you for motivating me to finish it up faster. Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet? Please do. It’s https://www.youtube.com/mydiasporakitchen
Thank you for Your support.
– Chichi