Ham Cigars and Curried Chicken Croquetas

These are very similar to the wonderful croquettes at Porto's in Glendale. They make a wonderful snack and a great way to use up leftovers.

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 50

Cuisine: Spanish Cuban

Difficulty: Easy

Calories per serving: 381kcal

For the Base

For the Ham Cigars

For the Curried Chicken Croquetas

For the Breading

Prepping the Meat

Making the Base

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ¾ cup of flour, salt and pepper, and the nutmeg. Stir to blend well. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently until the flour begins to turn golden and smell toasty about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the milk in a slow steady stream, whisking continuously.
Your mixture should look like this
Separate the base in half in the pan.
Divide the base into two bowls. You will be using one for the chicken and one for the ham.
Add the chicken to one of the bowls
Add the ham to the other bowl
Have seasoning ready for both

For the Ham Cigars

Add the jalapeno to the ham and mix it in thoroughly. A wooden spoon is a good tool for this. When you are done, your mixture should look like this.
Using a small ice cream scoop, take a heaping spoonful of the ham mixture and put it your hand. Roll it into a cylinder.
Put the cylinder on a cooling rack and continue to make cylinders until you have run out of the mixture.

For the Curried Chicken

Add the curry powder to the chicken and mix it in thoroughly. A wooden spoon is a good tool for this. When you are done, you mixture should look like this.
Clean the ice cream scoop and take a heaping spoonful of the chicken and roll it into a ball. Put it on a cooling rack and continue to do so until you have run out of the chicken mixture.
This is what your chicken may look like before breading.

Breading the Croquettes

Put the remaining flour in a bowl. Put the eggs in another bowl and beat them slightly. Put Panko breadcrumbs in another bowl, and regular breadcrumbs in a fourth bowl.
Mise En Place - Beaten Egg, Flour and Panko Bread Crumbs
For the cigars, take a cigar and roll it lightly in the flour. Shake it off and put it in the beaten egg, rolling as you go. Remove it from the egg, shaking any excess, then roll it in the regular breadcrumbs. Take the cigar and put it back on the wire rack then continue the same with the rest.
For the chicken, roll the ball in the flour first, then egg, then the Panko breadcrumbs. Put the ball on the wire rack and continue the same with the rest.
Put the breaded croquetas in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set.

Fry the Croquettes

Get a baking sheet ready with paper towels to drain the croquettes. If you have an extra cooling rack, put it on the baking sheet and put the paper towels on it.
In a 4-quart saucepan, add enough olive oil so it comes about 1/2 way to the top. Heat the oil to 375°.
Put two or three of the cigars in the spider strainer and carefully submerge the cigars in the hot oil. They are done when they are browned and rise to the top. Use the strainer to lift them out of the oil and onto paper towels or a paper towel lined cooling rack to drain.
Working in batches, put one or two of the curried chicken balls in the spider strainer and carefully submerge them the hot oil. Fry the croquettes until golden brown, about 1 minute per batch. Drain on paper towels, then season lightly with salt.

Serving

Provide a small bowl of chutney for the curried chicken balls, and a small bowl of ketchup for the ham cigars. Enjoy!

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