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
Pls if am using 500g of flour, what gram of butter and sugar and how many eggs should I use?
Hi Yemi,
The recipe calls for 280g of flour. I think you should multiply the recipe by 2. That means you need to add 60g of flour you 500g to make it 560g. Then multiply the other ingredients by 2. Hope that helped.
-Chichi
Thank you for providing the detailed information on why chin chin soaks up oil and how to cook it in the oven. You are a life saver looking forward to the oven option.
You are welcome Ade, enjoy!
I tried the recipe and it’s nice. I must say that the measurement isn’t easy to follow using a scale. Especially if you’re not very good with maths measurement and conversion.
Good work!
Hi Chinasa,
Yayy happy it worked out for you eventually. Personally I prefer measuring in weights as it gives the most accurate measurements and helps with replication of a recipe. Hope you get to try more recipes on the blog, Stay safe!
– Chichi
that is cooked in the oven! Sorry my keys are sticking
It’s ok Ola.I have responded to your first message. 😀
Hi ,
Great recipe and I remember loving these as a kid. But as I want to teach my class at school to make them, can they be looked i the oven too?
Thanks
Yes they can
Hi Ola,
Yes you can, put the cut up chin chin dough in a baking sheet. Spray lightly with oil spray,then bake in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for 25 – 30 mins.
Make sure to check at 15 mins, stir the dough and rotate the pan. Enjoy! Stay safe !
Your class would enjoy it. Would love to hear all about it. 👍
Well written recipe with a desired outcome. Many thanks for this, my family enjoyed the delicious chinchin.
Hi Marg,
Happy you and your family enjoyed it. Thank you for your compliment and feedback 😊 Stay safe.
– Chichi
Thanks for the recipe,really appreciate.
just can’t wait to give it a try.
You are welcome Dorathy, can’t wait to read your feedback. Thanks for stopping by.
– Chichi
Thanks for this recipe!
Can’t wait to have my CROFT chinchin.
You are welcome Temi. Thanks for reading through the post 😀 stay safe!
-Chichi
Hi, can I use self raising flour instead of plain flour?
Hi Chris,
I haven’t tried this with self rising flour but I think the amount of baking powder per cup in self rising flour may be too much.
This recipe requires just 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder for the entire recipe but 1 cup of self rising flour has 1/2 Tablespoon of baking powder. Hope that helps. Stay safe.
-Chichi
Yes it does, thanks. Stay safe too
Thank you
Hi, can I use normal liquid milk instead of Evaporated milk ?
Hi Reigneth,
Yes you can.
– Chichi
Hi, I’ve got bread flour at home and I’m just wondering if I can use this instead of plain flour. Thanks
Hi Oma,
Though all purpose flour is best for this recipe, bread flour will work as well. Yes you can use the bread flour you have instead of all purpose flour. Thank you for stopping by.
– Chichi
Thank you.