How To Make Nigerian Fish Roll

Fish-roll is a Nigerian snack that is found sold in almost every food store, confectionery, salons, schools, retail outlets etc. it is less expensive to produce and less time consuming, that is why an average Nigerian has a rough idea about the preparation method.

Its ingredients can be sourced in almost every food store, open market, and in retail outlets. The fish rolls majorly consists of a dough flattened lightly, cut into rectangle shapes and stuffed with fish fillings, rolled into cylindrical shapes and fried till golden brown.

The fillings consist of mashed fish, onions, pepper and little spice. It is a quick source of money when you decide to make it in large quantities, distribute and sell to customers.

Read Also: 10 Fast Selling Nigerian Snacks

 Materials and ingredients needed for making the fish roll

a. Mixing bowl

b. Flat wooden surface

c. Mixing pin

d. Frying pan

e. Dough cutter (alternatively pizza cutter)

f. Knife

g. Table spoon

h. 4 – 5 tin cups Pastry flour

i. 3 table spoons of Margarine

j. 2 eggs

k. 1-2 table spoon of baking powder

l. Titus fish (or any other fish of your choice)

m. 1/2 tea cup of water

n. 2 Chopped onions (mixed)

o. Chopped Pepper

p. Little spices (should be in moderation)

q. Vegetable oil (or any other oil of choice)

Read Also: How To Make Nigerian Egg Rolls

Procedure for making the fish fillings

1. Mash the titus fish and transfer into a clean bowl (I choose titus fish because it is boneless and it will save me the stress of picking out the bones of any other fish).

2. Mash the onions and pepper

3. Add little spices (seasoning cubes, salt, curry powder and thyme)

4. Mix the mashed fish and the spices in one bowl and fry in very little oil for about 2 minutes to allow it to cook partially.

5. Transfer the fish source into a clean bowl and set aside.

Procedure for making the fish rolls

1. Pour the flour into a bowl (it’s advisable to sieve the flour especially if you bought it locally), add the sugar, salt, baking powder, egg and margarine and mix it thoroughly using a turning stick or a mixer to make it faster. When the ingredients have evenly mixed with the flour add little water bit by bit and continue mixing the dough.

2. When the dough it formed properly, cover and set it aside for about 7 minutes to give room for it to rise.

3. Pour vegetable oil into the frying pan and allow to heat up at medium temperature.

4. Transfer the dough to a clean flat wooden surface and knead until you have a smooth stretchy dough that is good to work with.

5. Take some portion and flatten it on the surface using a rolling pin.

6. Cut small rectangles out of the flattened dough, the size of the rectangles could be bigger depending on how large you want your fish roll to be.

7. Take the cut out shapes and add about 2 table spoon of the fish fillings which you prepared earlier and spread to one side of the edges of the rectangle shaped dough.

8. Roll the rectangle shaped dough into cylindrical forms and transfer into the oil set on the heat. (it is important to make the both ends of the rolls tightened to avoid the fillings spilling out when frying and avoid over-crowding the pan).

9. While the fish roll is frying as soon as it becomes golden brown, the fish roll is ready to be transferred from the hot oil to the tray to allow to cool.

10. Repeat the same procedure for other rolls until you have fried all the fish rolls.

Read Also: How To Make Nigerian Buns

Profitability in fish roll business

Perhaps you decide to make money from frying fish roll then you can be sure to make good profit from the business.

This is because sourcing the ingredients is not hard, and it is less expensive and less stressful to make fish roll. Let’s assume you use N1000 to buy all the ingredients necessary for making the fish roll because a mudu of flour cost around N300 – 350. In the market and could be cheaper if you decide to buy in bulk.

The other ingredients will only cost about N700 approximately. 1 mudu (9 medium tin cups) of flour will result to about 40 to 50 counts of fish rolls depending on the size.

On an average a rich fish roll is sold around N100. Which means you can use just N1000 to make N4000 – N5000, which is a profit of N3000 – N4000 made (after removing the initial expenditure). That’s good money right? So I guess there is no reason to complain about unemployment in Nigeria.

 Some advantages of making fish roll

a. It’s cost effective, unlike other snacks that will cost you much more to make.

b. It can be made in less than 45 minutes

c. Very good profit can be made from marketing fish roll in case you need to raise money.

d. It can be made from the comfort of your home

e. Its ingredients can be easily sourced in any open market.

f. It can serve as breakfast and desert, and snacks for children to take to school.

g. You can add a soft drink to it and serve your guest that comes visiting.

Note: in normal room temperature fish roll cannot exceed 24 hours as it will lose its taste and quality, unlike chin-chin that can last for weeks, so it is best consumed within hours of preparation. For the purpose of marketing it, it is best sent out to customers immediately after it has been prepared.

Read Also: How To Make Nigerian Chicken Pie

Conclusion.

Though fish roll is a popular street snack found sold in most retail outlets, it is still a sought after snack for most Nigerians.

Because despite the fact that it’s common and an average Nigerian can prepare it or at least has the general idea about its preparation technique, it’s still not prepared in some homes, so learning its preparation method and serving it to guests or friends at special events like Christmas, sallah, birthdays, wedding, valentine etc will definitely make you stand out. And if you decide to take a step further by making money out of it you can be sure of making good profit.

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