Chicken 65 | Restaurant Style Chicken 65 | Spicy Chicken Fry | South Indian Style Chicken Fry

It was a surprise for my family and friends when I said that I haven't posted Chicken 65 recipe on my blog, yet. I have been blogging for more than 2 years and still my favourite appetizer remains unblogged. The cause was entirely reasonable, I was on a meatless diet  and had to focus more on the vegetarian cooking. Until then you would have found me cooking ONLY chicken recipes in my kitchen counter! But now all my diet plans have been over (yayy!! J) From now on you can expect more and more chicken recipes on my blog. There are 35+ chicken recipes already up on blog yet my love for chicken hasn't vanished. So after a long gap I got to prepare this spicy deep fried delicacy and enjoyed it all myself. There are a lot of versions, but I find this one close to the restaurant style. There is an Andhra Pradesh version popular over time, but the one I've posted is the Tamil Nadu special. I have been following this procedure for a very long time and it has never failed me taste-wise. Some restaurants use coconut oil for frying chicken as it gives a unique aroma and flavor, but you can use other ordinary cooking oil other than gingelly oil. 

"Chicken 65" ... now!!! what does that number in the name denote? I have wondered many a time on how they named this dish and how 65 got into it. I'm not sure how it originated or who named it, but I read on wikipedia that this chicken recipe was popular during 1965 at the famous Buhari hotel in Chennai; and there were other claims too. Another source says that there were 65 chillies used for a particular quantity of chicken, while another says 65 different ingredients were used in the making..!!! Some even postulate that it was positioned on the 65th place in a menu and hence the name; While still browsing I found another info that stated that only 65 days old chicken was used in preparation. Whatever the history, thanks to the person/team that brought such a tasty treat into the South Indian menu. 

Check video recipe here 

 

INGREDIENTS

Serves 1 person
Total Preparation Time - 15 to 30 minutes

1. Chicken - 150 grams (Boneless; chopped into smaller cubes) 
2. Red chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
3. Fennel powder - 1 teaspoon (or) crush 1 tsp of fennel seeds and use it
4. Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon 
5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon 
6. Ginger-Garlic paste - 3 teaspoons (or) grind 1 inch sized ginger and 3 garlic pods 
7. Curd - 1/2 teaspoon
8. Vinegar / Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon 
9. Corn flour or Gram flour - 1 teaspoon
10. Beaten egg - 2 teaspoons (optional) 
11. Salt - As per taste (app. 1/2 tsp)
12. Coconut oil / Sunflower oil - To deep fry or shallow fry the pieces 

PREPARATION METHOD

• Wash chicken pieces well in water and drain. Pat dry the pieces using a tissue paper and (or take care to drain water completely) chop into smaller cubes. 
• Now take these chicken pieces in a bowl and add all the ingredients except oil. Mix well, cover the bowl and set aside for 10 to 20 minutes (you can even marinate the chicken pieces for 30 minutes depending on the time availability) Alternatively you can mix all the ingredients first well and then add it to chicken, this way you can make sure the ingredients have got mixed up evenly. 
• Place a pan on flame pour enough oil to deep fry (or shallow fry) the chicken pieces. Using coconut oil gives a nice flavor but sunflower oil or any other odorless cooking oil can be used instead. 

• After the oil turns hot (not steaming hot) gently slide the marinated chicken pieces. Deep fry on medium flame until it turns reddish. Do not crowd the pan, fry in batches. 
• Serve hot!!

TIP 1: A secret to a nice flavorful chicken 65, is adding more ginger garlic paste. But try not to add too much, as it will make the dish too hot. 

TIP 2: Coconut oil is used in many restaurants to fry chicken but you can use any kind of odourless cooking oil. A strict no to gingelly oil. 

TIP 3: Chicken pieces will stick to the pan if the oil is not hot enough. Also do not let oil to turn smoky hot, the outside will get burnt while the inside will stay raw. 

TIP 4: I have not added any food color, Add red or orange food color if you wish. But red chilli powder is enough to give a nice red tone to the pieces. 

TIP 5: You can use chicken pieces with or without bones. If using bone pieces make incisions on the flesh and fry on low flame. 

TIP 6: Never add even a drop of water while marinating the chicken pieces, curd, lemon juice and ginger garlic paste is enough to bind the ingredients together. Sprinkle very little if needed. 

Check out  my other 65 recipes;

Beef 65

Mutton 65

Bread 65

Paneer 65

Prawn 65