The art of making coconut chin-chin

If on the trail of making an already delicious snack mind-blowingly sumptuous then this ride is for you. Welcome aboard foodies....

Before I try to interfere with it's make let's do a little background check on a seemingly common snack especially in Africa.

Chin chin a snack I have known for forever with it's crunchy feel and sweet taste that might work so well in the cinemas especially for loud and action filled movies that could overshadow it's crunchy sound. Funny though it can be made to be less crunchy but the crunchy is the source🤌

Chin chin is a fried snack from Nigeria, it is known as atchomon in Togo and Benin, achomo in Ghana and croquette in Cameroon.

I only discovered these other names and many others yesterday whilst researching. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I learnt to make chinchin from an aunt during a festive period and since then it's been this snack, made in bulk a few days to Christmas by yours truly and her fellow assistants (my siblings). Because it's a season of sharing. I will only be making a little tweak to its making by adding coconut 🥥.

Let's get right into it.

Coconut chin-chin recipe

• 100grams of white flour
• 800ml groundnut oil
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 30ml of liquid whole milk or 6 tablespoon of powdered milk
• 60ml margarine
• A teaspoon of coconut flavor
• Half a tablespoon of nutmeg
• Two large eggs
• A teaspoon of baking powder
• One and half glass of water

STEP ONE (Grating the coconut and frying it)
After grating the coconut, a dry pan is smeared with margarine then the coconut is fried till it has a little brownish look as seen below.

STEP TWO( Mixing the dry ingredients)

Mix the powdery things in a bowl first (The 100gram of white flour, 4 tsp of sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder, 6 table spoons of powdered milk, half a tablespoon of nutmeg and a tablespoon of coconut flavour).

Then squeezing in the margarine.

You mix till it has the consistency shown below

STEP THREE (Mixing the wet with the dry mixed ingredients)
Making a hole in the middle with a scooping spoon. You pour in the wet ingredients (two eggs, a tablespoon of coconut flavour and one glass of water) then mix

If it is still too dry, you can add some more water

and knead till the consistency below is obtained

STEP FOUR (cutting the flattened dough into cubes)

Cutting out a chunk of kneaded dough flatten it on a flat surface and cut through with a knife or a roller cutter as seen below. Had to use a stainless tray as the roller cutter was so sharp.

STEP FIVE (frying and straining the chinchin)

Placing a deep pot on fire, pour in the 800ml of groundnut oil or any clear edible oil of your choice.

Wait until it is hot enough. The best way to find out is by dropping one cube in and if it makes the ‘shreee!’ sound, then we are good to go. But if it settles at the bottom of the oil- don't go on. Wait some more.

You steer consistently to obtain an even brownish look.

Immediately a few of the cubes turn light brown start taking out in bits till you take them all out. Like plantain it can turn over as quickly- From light brown to burnt in a snap.

Voila!

Coconut chinchin is ready and packed in a sealed-up pouch to ensure it can last longer. Out in the open for days can have it getting less crunchy and soft in a weird way. We don't want that.

Thanks for sticking around till the end and learning something new😉
Do share your beautiful experiences and thoughts on this snack- I am all ears and eyes💕

Whitney Alexander®️

_{All pictures were taken using my IOS phone. Please pardon the quality of the last pictures as they were taken at night. Thank you.}

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^{~ Whitney Alexander; a lover of God, life and knowledge; an accountant, a fashion designer, a part time foodie, a resplendent tutor and a blogger/writer/storyteller in the hive family and loving every bit of it. Thanks for stopping by. xoxo~}