Coxinhas/Chicken Balls

Coxinhas are one of the Brazilian recipes passed down to me from my grandmother. They make great appetizers or even a whole meal. Coxinhas are made up of shredded chicken inside of a ball of dough that is breaded and fried. This is a time consuming recipe and one that will give your arms quite the workout.

INGREDIENTS:

3 boneless chicken breast
½ chopped onion
2 chopped cloves of garlic
6 tablespoon margarine
2 cubes beef or chicken bouillon
salt ground pepper
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
Bread crumb

PREPARATION:

Combine chicken breast, chopped onion, garlic, beef bouillon, salt, ground pepper, margarine and 3 cups of water in a decent sized pot and bring to a boil until chicken is fully cooked.

Drain the broth and chicken. Finely chop or shred chicken breast to make the coxinha filling. (You can add green onions, cheese, or parsley to the filling as well.)

Bring 2 to 3 cups of the remaining broth to boil. Add the 3 cups of flour into the boiling water and stir vigorously with a wood spoon for about 1 minute until it becomes dough. Take dough out of pan. When warm, knead dough until it becomes smooth and dissolve the flour lumps (about 10 minutes).

Flatten the dough and cut out circles in the dough. Place the dough in your hand and add filling (roughly 1 tbs).

Bring up the edges of the dough and pinch them together at the top so they resemble a large teardrop. Grease hands if necessary.

Baste the filled dough with egg and roll them over breadcrumb.

Deep-fry at 350 °F for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Goes good with:
French Fries
Spanish Fries