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
Hello. Please when frying the second and third batch, do you lower the heat? or let the heat be constant throughout the cooking process?
Hi Posi,
If you find that the second batch is browning too quickly, you can lower the heat. I usually lower the heat while I’m scooping out a batch and turn it back up when I add the next batch. Hope that answered your question.
Chichi
Thanks chi chi for your response. I will try that.
You are welcome 😊
Pls Chichi can u give me the quantity of ingredients for chin chin using (3cups)?
Hi Favour.
This recipe is for approximately 2 cups of flour. To make for 3 cups, use 1 and half of this recipe or double it to use 4 cups of flour. Hope this helps
Chichi pls will I find the Wilton. Brand of butter flavour in any cake shop?
Hi Favour,
You should be able to find Wilton butter flavor in most cake shops. This is how it looks.
https://amzn.to/2VeWyYX
Pls what makes chin chin to have buttery taste? Because I made chin chin and it didn’t have butter taste.
Hi Janet,
Have you tried this recipe? It uses butter and tastes buttery. If you want an intense butter flavor you can use butter flavor to enhance the butter flavor. Hope that helps.
I don’t want butter in my chinchi can I use egg alone
Hi Kemi,
If you don’t want to use butter, you can use margarine or coconut oil. I haven’t tried making Chin chin without the above ingredients. Chin chin needs some fat in it which is provided by the butter/margarine/coconut oil. May I ask why you don’t want to use butter.
Chichi
Delicious, crunchy and nice looking chinchin. It is not too hard for anyone. This is the best recipe I have ever tried! Thank you.
Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it. Happy you found the recipe helpful.
– Chichi
I did my chinchin with honey without sugar and it came out too soft please what was the cause?
Hi Rachael,
The chin chin was soft because you used honey. I don’t know how much honey you used. However If you intend to use honey, you would need to reduce the liquid ingredients in the recipe or add more flour to the recipe to firm up the dough. Hope that helps.
– Chichi
Can I add yeast?
Hi Ola,
Yeast is not needed in this recipe. Enjoy!
Hello please I made chin chin and it was strong the first day but after that day it got soft even though it was in a tight container, can you tell me why?
Hi Didi,
I really haven’t had this experience. Even With large batches they stay firm till it’s eaten up. If you followed the recipe, it shouldn’t get soft if properly stored. Maybe try another batch and keep an eye on the container to be sure it’s tightly closed at all times. Let know if you do.
-Chichi