Chin Chin – West African Fried pastry enjoyed throughout the region especially in Nigeria- Crispy Crunchy and Addictive.
Chin chin is my all time favorite snack -it tastes so good , yet so bad for you .It is a scrumptious fried pastry made in various ways. Throughout West Africa and Nigeria Chin Chin originally was prepared for special occasions. It has evolved from a special occasion food to being a snack food, sold on street corners, kiosk and supermarkets.
Growing up, it was customary at most homes in Cameroon, to make this delicious snack during the Christmas season. Each home has its own variation: some soft to the point of falling apart, others so hard that after a couple of bites you feel like your teeth would break.
Some shaped like small balls; others kneaded and cut into small 1 inch squares. The overall experience of slowly feasting on chin-chin is immeasurable…..I never got tired of trying all the different variations of Chin-Chin.
Even at this ripe old age I still love it , the only issue is, “once I pop I cannot stop”. On one occasion I had to hide it in the trunk of my car. Well, that was a little extreme, but I had to. It is so addictive!!
The ingredients for this recipe are: butter, sugar, eggs and flour and some sort of seasoning. Although the thought of making chin- chin dough can be a little intimidating, this recipe is surprisingly simple and straightforward.
You can shape this however you like. They take no longer to make than any other cookie, and the most time consuming part is probably the frying.
Enjoy!!!
NOTES
- If you like your chin soft then add more butter – 1 or 2 Tablespoons more . Be careful not to use too much butter . If not your chin chin is going to crumble.
- A pasta machine helps in rolling out the dough and shaping it. check it out here
Check out this post here Popular African Food to Celebrate Christmas
Watch How to Make It
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Chin Chin
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups 440 grams all-Purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1- teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons margarine/butter
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup milk
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Using a mixer or by hand mix the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, nutmeg and lime zest
- Add the butter to the flour and mix well until the butter is well incorporated with the flour.
- Add milk and egg into the mixture. Keep mixing until you have formed a sticky dough ball
- Dump the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating more flour into the dough as needed, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and even in color and no longer sticky. Chin-chin can be cut into many shapes and sizes
- Divide dough in half .On a floured board roll each half about 1/6 inches thick. Just like linguine or fettuccine. You can make it easy by using a pasta machine if you have one available. Make shapes as desired.
- Add oil (about 3 inches deep) to a heated skillet/sauce pan or my all time favorite Dutch oven that is over medium heat and bring it to 375 degrees .
- Fry in hot oil until golden .Remove from oil, drain, and serve. You can store this in an air tight container for up to a month.
Tips & Notes:
- For this recipe , I used a standard measuring cup( leveled ). I also used standard measuring spoons.
- If you like your chin soft then add more butter – 1 or 2 Tablespoons more . Be careful not to use too much butter . If not your chin chin is going to crumble.
- A pasta machine helps in rolling out the dough and shaping it. check it out here
Nutrition Information:
Celestina says
Thanks for the recipe,
Immaculate Bites says
You’re welcome, Celestina! Enjoy 🙂
Eniola says
Hello,can chin chin be refried??
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Eniola! I haven’t tried refrying chin chins. You can try but be careful to not burn it. Maybe a few seconds to a minute will do. Let me know if you tried and how it turned out. 🙂
Eniola says
Hello,I refried the chin chin for 5min and it turned out hard. It was hard to break while chewing but the sweetness was still intact
LYNCEL LAURE says
It’s so yummy
mustykoko says
thank you it for my assaignment
Vicky says
This came out amazing only thing I’ll add is to add more salt
BEN says
I loved this recipe so much! Thank you for the effort to put your recipe straight and easy to understand
Ebubechi says
Thank you sooooooo much Imma I tried the recipe and double it by 5 and it was the best recipe ever am also switching to business back with this recipe thanks and God bless you.
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear this .All the best!!
Evelyn kelechi says
I love this recipe
Chancelle Wakazadi says
I love this recipe so much. It tastes so good. I will forever be making chin chin using this recipe. Thank you for the step by step direction. And thanks for your recipe
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear it worked out well . Enjoy!
Emmanuella says
Help my chin chin is always sticky when am cutting,how do i resolve this.
ImmaculateBites says
Add flour – just enough to cutting it out .
Wuraola says
Good day ma,
Please how do I rectify the too much baking powder I added to my chin chin though? Thank you
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry you can’t .
N.C JOEL says
ma how can i lime/lemon zest
imma africanbites says
Hi. You can use a microplane or grater to zest a lemon. Please check this out https://bit.ly/3auVtzD
Oluwakemi says
This is a great recipe. I hope to come back and testify too. Thank you for doing this for people like us.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for the feedback.
Blessing says
Salut Immaculate, merci pour cette recette, je vous reconnaissants
ImmaculateBites says
Il n’y a pas de quoi. Merci
Hope ajinwo says
What is that green thing you added
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Hope! It is Lime zest. You could also use lemon zest if that is what you have on hand.
Ekom says
Hello aunty
this recipe is the best, i tried mine and it came out crunchy.
Please i want to know if you’ve used lemon zest in your chin chin before.
I also want to know if i can use the lime or lemon zest in my peanut.