Chicken 65

The great Indian fried Chicken experience, that you need to try right about now. Perfect snack or meal (depending on how much you want to eat).

Written by Sahini Banerjee

3 people

Serves 3 people

19 ingredients

24 hours

Prep time

The Indian Fried Chicken experience

The world is obsessed with fried chicken. But it collectively missed out on the Indian fried chicken experience. I have a love hate relationship with watching people order Indian food and its always butter chicken. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with butter chicken, but its time the world tries foods from other regions of India, because Indian food is incredibly diverse. One such dish, is Chicken 65 from the southern part of India. Invented in Chennai, this version of fried chicken represents the flavours of southern India – a perfect balance of sweet, sour and spicy.

The name as to why it is called 65, has a few lores behind it. But experts say it’s not the date, rather the serial number on the menu card that gave this iconic dish its name. Chicken 65 was named either because it was invented in 1965, or because it was the 65th item in the menu card. 

Ingredients

For the Marination : 
1. 477g Boneless Chicken
2. 56g (1/4 cup) plain yoghurt
3. 1 tbsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
4. 1 tsp Cumin Powder
5. 1/4 tsp Garam Masala
6. 1/2 tsp salt
7. 1 tsp lime juice
8. 33g egg mixture(approx 2/3rds of total egg mixture)
9. 15 chopped or crushed (if dry) curry leaves

For deep frying :
1. 2 tbsp AP flour
2. 1/4 cup panko or breadcrumbs [this is optional. Use 2 tbsp Rice flour as a substitute]

For the sauce : 
1. 1 tsp cumin seeds
2. 1 tsp grated ginger
3. 1 tbsp minced garlic
4. 3 green chilies
5. 10 curry leaves
6. In a bowl add :

1 tbsp Kashmiri red Chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1.5 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup water 

Instructions

Additional tips to keep in mind :

  1. When I have time and patience, I marinade the chicken for 17-24 hours in the fridge. When I don’t have patience, and I want something easy, but extremely tasty, I marinade the chicken for 40 mins to 1 hour.
  2. The amount of Curry leaves can be adjusted, if you do not like too much of it. 
  3. The amount of Kashmiri red chili powder can also be adjusted. It is mostly added for the bright colour, but if it intimidates you, halve the amount mentioned in the recipe.
  4. The sugar, caramelises and coats the rest of the spices onto the chicken pieces well. If you want to use powdered jaggery in its place, please go ahead. Just add 2 tbsp of it.
  5. I personally use chicken from thigh and legs. But for this particular recipe, the breast piece of the chicken works perfectly well. Cut it into 1 inch long pieces

Recipe : 

  1. Marination : Debone your chicken if you have not bought boneless chicken. Clean the chicken pieces, and coat them with the spices mentioned in the ingredient list. The longer you marinade, the better the chicken will taste.
  2.  If you are marinading the chicken for less than 3 hours, you can keep it outside, considering the outside temperature is not above 40C and it is not humid. Otherwise it is better to marinade in the fridge.
  3. Once the marination has been completed, coat the chicken with flour and Panko. Panko isn’t traditionally used. But I like the crunchiness it gives. Use rice flour as substitute. Mix everything well. The mixture should be tight and sticky.
  4. Heat neutral(vegetable) oil in a pot/kadhai. Once hot, start frying individually coated chicken pieces, on medium -high heat. Fry for 40 seconds and move the pieces around to fry for another 20 seconds on high heat. 
  5. Place the chicken on the cooling rack.
  6. In the meantime, heat a pan. Add a tbsp of oil that was used to fry the chicken in. Add cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves. Saute till the edges of the garlic are golden brown. [medium heat is fine]
  7. Add the liquid sauce mixture into the pan. Mix and let the liquid reduce slightly. It should be in the beginning stages of stickiness(if that makes sense)
  8. add the fried chicken into the sauce and cover the chicken pieces in the sauce well. 
  9. When the chicken is coated, turn off the heat.
  10. Garnish it with fried curry leaves and fried green chilies. This step is for those who absolutely love curry leaves. Otherwise leave it. 
  11. Serve with a drink of your choice. I eat it with rice mostly. 
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