Party Recipe: Ganesh Maple Chicken Poppers

New Year’s Eve parties, or cozy and lively evenings at home welcoming the year 2025, will call for lots of appetizers, the more delicious the better.

To cook Ganesh Gaonkar offers you a sweet and sour recipe for a chicken snack. Ground chicken is stuffed with cheese, fried and served with a maple and orange juice sauce. Intriguing, isn’t it?

Head of the group that runs, among others, The Game Palacio, in Mumbai, for the past five years, Chef Ganesh spends a lot of time whipping up delicious snacks for players who visit their gaming halls.

For more ideas on what to serve for New Year’s Eve, take a look at 25 fantastic recipes for New Year’s Eve.

Photograph: Courtesy of Chef Ganesh Gaonkar

Maple Chicken Poppers

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients

• 150g chopped chicken
• 5 g fresh green parsley, chopped
• 60 g Cheddar cheese
• 5 g peri peri spice powder
• Salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 100 g of breadcrumbs
• 50 g of maple syrup
• 30 ml of orange juice
• Oil for frying poppers
• A handful of microgreens

Method

• Spread the breadcrumbs on a plate.
  Keep aside.
• In a bowl, mix the ground chicken with the pepper, salt, parsley and eggs.
  Roll into small, bite-sized popper balls.
  Flatten and stuff with cheese and roll into balls or small cylinders.
  Roll in breadcrumbs.
  Refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, over medium heat, heat the orange juice and peri peri powder.
  Let it reduce a little.
  Then add the maple syrup and stir.
  Keep aside.
• Take the chicken poppers out of the refrigerator and fry them in oil, over medium heat, for 6 to 8 minutes, turning them so they turn golden brown on all sides.
  Drain on a plate lined with tissues or absorbent paper.
• Serve hot, garnished with microgreens, with the sauce.

Chef Ganesh Gaonkar is based in Mumbai.