SPRING ROLL PACKETS

September 21, 2018

SPRING ROLL PACKETS

We used to have spring rolls , in Chinese restaurants when we were kids. It was ordered as a starter/appetizer . My brothers and myself loved anything dipped in tomato sauce. Crispy spring rolls dipped in tomato sauce was our favorite. This recipe is a tweaked version from Mrs. K M Mathew's cookery book. It does not use the usual spring roll wrappers but uses crepes instead of the wrappers.

The first time I made it , it was very time consuming , but planning ahead and making the crepes way ahead made it easier .

INGREDIENTS

For the crepes:

1-3/4 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar(optional)
oil for cooking the crepes

For the filling:

250 gms boneless chicken(I have used thigh meat)
1/2 of a medium sized onion , chopped
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
2 cups long grated carrot (about 2 long thin carrots)
1 tbsp. each of soya sauce and tomato sauce
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour diluted in 1/2 cup water without lumps
1 Tbsp oil for sauteing
1 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

3/4 cup oil for frying

3 bread , pulsed in the blender to crumbs(Make this ahead and keep in an airtight box)

1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp water

METHOD

Make the filling first:

Using scissors , cut the chicken into tiny pieces.

Heat a sauté pan on medium high heat , when warm add oil , when the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and chopped onions together. Putting it together , avoids the chicken pieces from clumping together.
After about 5 minutes , add the chopped cabbage and carrots. Sauté for another 2 minutes.

Add salt , keep in mind that we are adding soya sauce which contains a substantial amount of salt.
Add the flour-water mixture . Cook for a minute.
Add pepper , soya sauce and tomato sauce. Stir well.
Turn off the stove and keep aside

Making the crepes:

Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse it into a fine batter.

Heat a 6 inch , non-sticky pan , on medium heat. When warm ,add 1/2 a ladleful of the batter into the pan. Cover and cook for a minute on medium low heat. After 1 minute , using a spatula , take out the crepe. No need to turn over.

Occasionally oil the pan slightly , if the crepes does not come out easily.

The crepes should be very thin. If it is very thick , it will be difficult to fold into packets.

The batter makes at least 22 small crepes.

Making the spring roll packets:

Set up a breading station with the bread crumbs , filling , beaten eggs, crepes , plates to store the rolled packets.
On a plate , take a crepe , put a spoon of filling .
Fold the lower end of the crepe , followed by the 2 sides of the crepe. At this point , the crepe with the filling looks like an envelope.

Roll the crepe to the end , dip your finger in the egg wash , run around along the top edge of the crepe and using it to close the packet . Applying the egg wash , seals the crepe nicely.
Keep the rolled packet aside. Repeat with the other crepes.
After all the packets are done, dip each packet into the beaten egg , roll around and put it into the bread crumbs plate. Repeat .
When the bread crumbs plate is full. Roll each packet until full coated with the crumbs.
When all the packets are breaded, its time to fry the packets.

Frying the packets:

Heat a wok(cheena chatti) on high heat. Pour oil for frying . Wait till the oil gets hot.

In the meantime ,set up an assembly line by keeping 2 plates lined with kitchen paper and the box with the meat packets alongside the wok.

To test whether the oil is hot enough , place the tip of a bamboo skewer into the oil. If the oil bubbles , then the oil is hot enough.
Put in 4 packet at a time , fry one side for 2 minutes and then turn over and fry for 1 minute.(Control the temperature of the oil as you fry)
Drain into the paper lined plate.