Chicken Pops with Ballymaloe Smooth Relish
- Cooking Time: 25 minutes
- Serves: 6-10
- Allergens: Egg, wheat
Description
This recipe is a handy go-to as a party food staple, for adults and children alike and will make 30 chicken pops. You can also prepare it in advance and freeze batches for frying later. The chicken pops can be adapted and served as koftas with pittas or wraps, adding some cumin and chilli powder to the breadcrumbs along the way. However you decide to use the recipe, these chicken pops are delicious with Ballymaloe Smooth Relish as it brings out the flavour and is the perfect dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 200g raw, skinned chicken (diced)
- 1 free-range egg
- 2 cloves garlic (mashed or finely grated)
- 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
- 1 tsp tarragon (chopped)
- 100g breadcrumbs
- Salt & ground black pepper
- Butter and olive oil for frying
- Ballymaloe Smooth Relish
- Lollipop sticks, skewers or cocktail sticks (blunt-ended)
Dietary Suitability
Method
- Place all the ingredients, except the breadcrumbs, in a food processor and blend until the mixture turns into a paste. This takes between 1 & 2 minutes.
- Add most of the breadcrumbs and blend again briefly. You want the breadcrumbs to soak up the excess moisture from the egg, so the mixture is just firm enough to roll into little balls in the palm of your hand.
- Roll small pieces (12g approximately) of the mixture into lollipop-sized balls, then cover and chill for 20 minutes.
- Melt a little butter in a frying pan over a low to medium heat with a splash of olive oil.
- Cook the balls for 5-7 minutes on a medium heat, swirling the pan continuously until the balls are golden on the outside and fully cooked through.
- Leave the chicken pops to cool a little before assembling like a lollipop on the end of a small skewer or cocktail stick.
- Serve on a large warm serving plate or board with a bowl of Ballymaloe Smooth Relish.
