Chicken Parcels - Step by Step

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

Servings 

Makes 10 parcels

Crispy, flaky baked chicken parcels with a spicy minced chicken filling. Tasty snack!

Ingredients for Filling

250 gm

chicken mince

2

onions, grated

juice of half a lemon

1 tsp

garlic paste

1 tsp

ginger paste

2 tbsp

chopped coriander

1/4 tsp

pepper

1/2 tsp

salt

(or to taste)

1/2 tsp

cumin powder

1/4 tsp

turmeric powder

1/4 tsp

garam masala

1

chopped green chillies

1 tbsp

butter

Ingredients for Dough

2 cups

all-purpose flour/maida

(240 gm)

1 tsp

baking powder

1 tsp

salt

1

egg, lightly whisked

(reserve 1 tbsp. of the beaten egg to apply on the parcels before baking)

warm water, as needed

(about half a cup)

2 tbsp

ghee or softened butter

1 tbsp

rice flour

(optional)

Instructions 

First, start by cooking the filling.

Dry in a pan over medium heat the minced meat with all the spices, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, chili and some of the coriander. Once completely dry pour it all out into a bowl. You will re-use the pan later.

Peel and grate the onions. Using the same pan that you had used to dry the mince, put the spoonful of butter and lower the flame until the butter melts. Pour in the onions and stir fry until they become soft. Add a bit of turmeric powder to color them slightly and powdered black pepper.

Once the onions are nice and soft, pour in the dried mince from before. Stir together and leave on the heat for some time, about 5 mins or so, stirring constantly so the mince doesn't stick. Check for salt/pepper. Switch off the heat once you find the mince dry enough such that it sticks to the bottom of the pan. Squeeze some lemon and sprinkle a bit of garam masala and the chopped coriander.

Let this mixture cool completely. 

In the meantime, prepare the dough.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the egg and mix it in, then gradually add the water and knead to form a smooth and soft dough.

Cover the dough and set it aside to rest for about 20 minutes.

Then roll the dough out to form a big square of 14"x14". Apply the 2 tbsp. ghee all over the square. Then lightly dust the rice flour using a sieve to distribute it evenly over the square. If you don't have rice flour, just omit the ingredient. It helps add to the crispiness and to keep the layers separate, but the recipe will still work without it.

Roll the square into a tight swiss roll. Wrap it in foil or cling film and refrigerate it for a minimum of an hour. This helps chill the ghee/butter in the dough.

Once the time is up, remove the roll, remove the wrapping and then divide the roll into 10 equal portions.

Press each portion down to flatten it and roll it out into a circle. Add about 2 tbsp. of filling to the center of each circle, then gather the edges together to close the filling within the circle. Try not to gather too much dough as that will make the parcels have a bulky under-side. You can trim off any excess dough to even it out. Press the parcel down to flatten slightly and place on a greased baking tray.

Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.

I like drizzling 1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp. of water into the mince before putting it into the rolled dough. This helps hold the mincemeat together so that when you eat the parcels later, the mince doesn't crumble and fall apart.

Once all are done, preheat the oven at 180 C. Apply the reserved egg on the parcels, then bake them for about 25-30 minutes or until they are puffy and golden.

Cool them slightly before serving by placing them on rack.