ARANCINI / ITALIAN CHEESY RICE BALLS

Arancini is a very popular Italian snack. Creamy rice balls stuffed with a piece of gooey cheese are a delight to munch when served immediately out from the frying pan. Traditionally some ham is also added along with green peas but I added chicken instead.
You can cook this in two ways, one is cook the rice fresh along with the green peas, onion, ham or chicken like Risotto which definitely is more flavourful or make use of the left over rice and add the other ingredients after sauteeing them.
The theme of the month in our group, "Shhhhh Cooking Secretly" is - Fried Snacks. Monsoon has begun and we all love to munch something nice with tea.
My partner was Priya Iyer, who has a lovely blog - The World Through My Eyes
She gave me my two secret ingredients, Rice and Cheese. They were perfect for me as I was planning to make Arancini since a long time.
Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:
Cooked rice ...... 1 cup
Roasted shredded and diced chicken .. 1/2 cup
Green peas (boiled) ............... 1/2 cup
Italian parsley (chopped)........ 1/4 cup
Olive oil ................................. 2 tbsps
Onion (finely chopped) .......... 1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese ...................... 1/2 cup
Mozzarella cheese .................... small cubes (as needed)

For coating and frying:
All purpose flour .... 1/2 cup
Bread crumbs .......... 1 cup
Eggs ........................ 2 (beaten)
Oil .................... for frying.

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the onions.

2. When they turn translucent, tip in the diced  chicken.

3.Next add the boiled green peas.

4. Add the cooked rice and parsley. Stir to combine everything.

5. Allow it to cool a little bit and add the grated cheese and mix well.

6. Now divide the mixture into 8 equal portions or depending the size of the balls you want to make. Take a portion of the mixture in your palm, flatten it and place a piece of mozzarella cheese.

7. Seal it well and make a smooth ball. Prepare all the balls in the same way.

8. Spread the flour and bread crumbs in two flat plates. Roll each ball first in the dry flour.

9. Then dip into the egg.

10. Finally coat it with bread crumbs evenly.

11. Prepare all the balls in the manner before you start frying.

12. Heat oil in a pan, lower the heat and fry the rice balls carefully.

13. Fry them evenly turning them until they are golden brown in colour.

14. Serve immediately with a sauce or dip of your choice.









Note: If you are cooking the rice along with the chicken or ham and green peas you can add some white wine and chicken stock to make it more flavourful.
Recipe adapted from - Natasha's Kitchen

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