bubbling cauldron: Crispy Chicken Wontons from scratch

I cannot even imagine anyone (at least our age) who does not like wontons, soupy or fried — because anything with flour and stuffing is bound to be good. My personal favorites are fried ones, with just a hint of the filling that melts in your mouth as the cover crunches deliciously. I searched recipes for this savory dish, and discovered something funny. Some recipes tell you how to make the wrapper, some demonstrate how to wrap the wontons, while others talk of what to do afterwards. I didn’t find a single one that spoke of the tale from beginning to end. I took some from this, and some from that, and the end product was really, really delicious!

What you need:

For the wrapper:
All purpose flour or just plain Maida: One cup
Egg: One
Corn starch/ cornflour: One teaspoon
Salt: To taste

For the filling:
Minced chicken: One cup
Ginger garlic paste: One teaspoon
Chili paste: One teaspoon
Salt: To taste
Corn starch/ cornflour: One teaspoon
Garam Masala: One teaspoon
Chopped coriander (optional): One bunch
Chopped green onions (optional): One bunch
Mustard Oil: One teaspoon
Point to note: The process is not difficult, but it IS time-consuming and tedious. I think making this should be reserved to when we have friends or cousins over, who can help with the wrapping and frying, just like in the momo parties.

Now for the how-to:

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
Crack open an egg into the well, and beat lightly (yes, yolk and all). Add salt to taste.

I love the color combo.

Knead into a dough, adding lukewarm water when necessary. The dough should be pliant, but not sticky.
Once the dough is firm and spongy, cover it and keep aside for half and hour.
Warning: The dough is going to be considerably smelly, only those who do not have an aversion to the smell of a raw yolk should volunteer.

This was the easiest of all.

In the chicken mince, add the ginger-garlic and chili paste, garam masala, coriander, green onions, corn starch, salt and oil. Mix thoroughly and keep aside.

Not very appetizing looking, I realize.

Make balls of the dough, keeping it to the size you are comfortable in. Roll them out with a rolling pin, the shape does not really matter. Use cornstarch when needed, to prevent stickiness.

This time, when I want them square, they turn out round!

Cut them out into manageable shapes, you can make triangles, rectangles, squares, even circles. They should be easy enough to fold and wrap.

I love cutting dough.

The wrappers are ready, stack them up and cover them as you work, as they tend to dry up really fast.
There was a big hullabaloo in all the recipes about how you need not ‘buy’ wonton wrappers as you can ‘make’ them yourself. Some of the comments said ‘I has never imagine it would be this easy!’ Well, for us, who have been making wrappers for samosas and momos and rolling out nimkis, buying the wrapper is simply not an option.

And imagine, these are sold at atrocious prices.

Now for the fun part:

Place a little bit of the filling in each of the wrappers, and wrap them up.

Lesser the filling, better it is.

There are YouTube videos that demonstrate this process, and I watched them around 10 times but I’m hopeless with any kind of wrapping. So I just did the easiest thing, made ‘Samosa’ shaped wantons. Experts in momo-wrapping will have a field day with this process. Just make sure that you do not leave air pockets inside, because such wontons will explode in your face! (As two did on mine).
Keep all the packaged wontons covered so that they don’t dry up.

Mayuree and Jhyaunkiri would have done this so well!

Now follow the age-old frying procedures. Heat oil, drop in the wontons from the side, around five at a time, cook on medium heat for about five minutes, making sure to turn them on both sides and deep fry.
Break one or two of the first wontons to check that the filling is white, golden or slightly brown (though this would mean the wrappers are black), and not pink.
Place wontons on absorbent paper as you take them out, the frying gets easier as the rhythm sets in.
Serve with a chutney, sauce or dip of your choice, and eat it all yourself. (As I did).