Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 1 tspsalt
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 60 gbutter or shortening
- 1 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tspblack pepper
- ½ tspcayenne
- 1 tspdried thyme
- about 200 ml cold water
To fry and finish
- 1 litreoil
- extra salt and black pepper
- hot pepper sauce, to serve
Directions
- Rub the butter into the flour along with the salt, baking powder, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne and thyme, until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the cold water gradually and bring it together into a firm dough. Firm rather than soft: a wet dough puffs up into something bready, and chicken foot should be dense and hard-crunchy.
- Knead briefly, then rest for 20 minutes.
- Roll out to about 3 mm and cut into strips roughly 10 cm long and 2 cm wide.
- Cut two or three slits partway along the length of each strip, so the ends splay apart in the oil into the claw shape the name describes.
- Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F), which is lower than for most frying, so the dough dries out and crisps all the way through instead of colouring while still soft inside.
- Fry in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them, until golden and hard.
- Test one by letting it cool for a minute and then breaking it. It should snap cleanly, and any bend at all means the batch needs longer.
- Drain on a rack, season while still hot, and cool completely before storing.
- Keep in a sealed jar, where they last a fortnight, and eat by the handful with pepper sauce.
Technique
- There is no chicken in it. The name describes the splayed claw shape of the fried dough and nothing else.
- Firm dough and moderate oil. Both instincts run the other way and both are wrong here.
- It is sold in village shops and at school gates across Guyana, usually by the small bag.
Substitutions
- Shortening in place of butter, which gives a slightly harder snap.
- Any neutral frying oil.
Variations
- Sweet, with sugar and cinnamon instead of the savoury spicing.
- Twisted rather than slit, which fries a little more evenly.
- Rolled thicker for a chewier, more substantial bite.
History
A Guyanese snack sold in village shops and at school gates; the name describes the claw-like shape.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chicken foot?
Chicken foot is a snack from Guyana: twisted strips of fried seasoned dough, crunchy and eaten by the bag. A Guyanese snack sold in village shops and at school gates; the name describes the claw-like shape.
How long does Chicken foot take to make?
Chicken foot takes 25 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large jar. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Chicken foot?
Yes, within limits. Shortening in place of butter, which gives a slightly harder snap. Any neutral frying oil.
What is the most important thing to get right in Chicken foot?
Add the cold water gradually and bring it together into a firm dough. Firm rather than soft: a wet dough puffs up into something bready, and chicken foot should be dense and hard-crunchy.
