White chicken poppers

I recently attempted making an appetizer commonly made when my parents entertain back home in India. I had always thought making White chicken poppers (a name I have coined – back home we simply call it chicken in white sauce, on Monaco biscuits – Monaco biscuits being the Indian version of Ritz) took way too much effort for something that looked so simple, ever since I saw my mom make it when I was a kid. I call this appetizer ‘poppers’ because I just can’t stop ‘popping’ them in my mouth!

The caption above says: Make life savory!

Thankfully, and in spite of my fear of my efforts leading to a disaster, my first attempt at this appetizer turned out brilliantly! I promised myself I’d post it on the blog if my friends enjoyed it too, so here I am!

White chicken poppers - when I brought the plate to the coffee table

White chicken Poppers - a few moments later - fewer in quantity but neatly arranged for the photo 🙂

You will need –

• Cook the chicken with the ginger garlic paste, green chillies and some salt, with about 3 cups of water
• Once the chicken is cooked, let it cool. Drain away the chicken stock and finely shred the chicken. (Keep the chicken stock for a mean soup later!)
• Now make the white sauce. Start by melting butter on very low heat in a saucepan
• Add the cumin seeds once the butter is melted
• Once the seeds begin to emit a light fragrance, put in the flour, constantly mixing
• Cook the flour in the butter for at least 5-8 minutes
• Slowly add the milk while stirring it into the flour mixture, and continue to stir on low heat till all the lumps break and blend into the milk
• Keep stirring on low heat till the sauce gets thick. This should take about 20 min of cooking on low heat
• Once the sauce thickens, add the salt, pepper and garlic powder, and mix well
• Once the sauce is thick, take the saucepan off the heat and melt in the shredded cheese
• Mix the sauce with the shredded chicken making sure the mixture is not too liquid-y. To prevent this, take an empty bowl and add chicken and sauce little by little. Any leftover sauce can be used in a baked dish later and leftover chicken can be used in a sandwich.
• Taste the mixture and add salt / pepper if you want it spicy or mild.
• Just when the guests arrive (or when the stomach starts to complain) spoon in small quantities of the chicken onto each Ritz biscuit and then garnish with chopped cilantro

Other garnishing suggestions –

* Finely chopped green peppers

* Finely chopped, boiled carrots

* Shredded cheese

* Slivers of beetroot

* Boiled peas

(My mother once recreated the Indian flag when she made these – LOL!)