How To Make Chin Chin At Home


It's been a while since I talked about a recipe I tried at home. As a child of immigrants, I grew up on African and French food, and I want to share one of the most popular African treats: Chin Chin, or Croquettes in French-speaking African countries. It's been one of my favourite treats since childhood, and I spent years buying them.

Although supermarket chin chin is good, it can't compare to fresh homemade ones. I finally made it at home for the first time. I want to emphasise the word "successfully" because I've been trying to make them for years but failed until now. Picking up baking after moving to London is one of the best things I've done in recent years; it's so much easier to bake and make food or treats that seem difficult.

The first time I tried, I added baking powder, and it made the dough rise. It looked more like small cakes than chin chin. Baking powder is optional and won't completely ruin the dough, but I prefer my chin chin crunchy, not soft and fluffy. If you want to make soft chin chin, please add baking powder. But remember the dough will rise, so you'll have to cut them very small.

Chin Chin dough


Making Chin Chin At Home

Every recipe has ingredients you can't mess with, and for chin chin, flour and butter completely change the taste and texture if you get the measurement wrong. My baking skills improved once I understood how important it is to use the exact measurements. Don't try to be creative unless you're certain it won't ruin your dough.

It isn't easy for everyone to follow instructions; I was that person until last year, which is why I didn't get better at baking until I started following the recipe exactly. Use 3 cups of flour if it says so; even 2 1/2 cups will change the dough texture and overhaul your baking experience. Now let me tell you how to make this delicious African treat.

Most ingredients are probably in your pantry, which is why chin chin is a popular treat in Africa. For a small batch of chin chin, you'll need

  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 Cup butter (melted or soft)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 Cup milk (whole or semi-skimmed)
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tbsp baking powder (optional)
  • Oil for frying

Cutting the dough 


No-knead dough

Kneading the dough is my least favourite part of baking since I have a bad shoulder and have to do it by hand. No worries, though; chin chin dough doesn't need kneading, and here's how to mix the ingredients. In a bowl, mix flour and soft or melted butter. Once it's well mixed together and looks flaky, add sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Egg, milk and vanilla will be the last to be added.

Keep mixing your dough by hand or with a spatula until it no longer sticks; cover the bowl with a towel or cling film and let it sit for an hour or so. This process is optional; you can start cutting your dough right away, but I prefer to let it sit to allow all the ingredients to blend well together. Maybe I've just been baking bread and pizza too much; anyway, once you're ready to work on your dough.

Sprinkle flour on a worktop, move your dough from the bowl to the dusted worktop and roll it around a couple of times, then cut it into small pieces. Take one of the pieces, roll and stretch it long, then start cutting it into small pieces. The pieces will rise when you fry them, so unless you want to end up with big chin chin, I recommend cutting them very small, especially if you added baking soda to the mix. Repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough. I recommend having your stove on and frying them as you go to save time.

Chin Chin 



Chin Chin: Delicious African Treat

Once you've made the dough, you can get creative and cut it into different shapes. Most people are used to round ones like mine or stretched like spaghetti. So feel free to show your creativity by giving chin chin different shapes; it's your dough after all. Now I've shown you how to make a popular African treat at home, and once you try them fresh and hot, you'll never go back to store-bought ones.

You'll probably end up eating all in one sitting unless you're disciplined. As delicious as they are, they aren't healthy; remember, butter is one of the ingredients before being fried. Africans can get away with eating them a lot because it's hot there, and they'll easily burn the extra calories. The same can't be said about Europe, America or anywhere else apart from Africa.

I'm actually guilty of eating the ones I made in 2 days; it was so good I couldn't help it, and I won't be making them again anytime soon. I can't eat fried food or treats on a weight-loss journey; I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to reconnect with my roots...

Thank you for reading!

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