Chicken 65 Recipe. Chicken 65 is a spicy & crispy south indian appetizer belonging to the south indian cuisine. Boneless chicken is marinated in spices, yogurt, ginger and garlic,then deep fried to crispy perfection before being quickly tossed with curry leaves and chilies before serving. It is packed with spicy, tangy and super delicious south indian flavors! Perfect with drinks, as a chicken starter or a side dish with rice or flatbreads.
Having spent over four years of his student life in IIT Madras, my husband is a huge huge fan of south indian flavors. When we got married, I rarely knew anything about south indian cuisine except idlis, dosa or sambar vada which are really popular dishes in the Delhi street food scene. However, slowly over the years I have learnt a lot of dishes that he likes and this Chicken 65 recipe happens to be one of them. Not just him, my 8 year old has taken a liking to spicy foods in the past few years and she loves this one as well. In this post I am sharing the dry version of chicken 65
Origins of Chicken 65
Why do we call it chicken 65? Even my 8 year asks me this many times. There are many theories behind how the dish got its name. I searched a little and Wikipedia tells me that the marination of chicken contained 65 chili peppers at Buhari Hotel chain where the dish is said to be originated. Another theory is that the recipe needed 65 chickens. Down south, from state of Andhra Pradesh to Kerala, different regions make their own variation. Essentially, chicken65 is fiery, deep fried chicken with the saltiness & the chewy crispiness that one mostly associates with fried chicken.
The robust south indian flavors packed in this appetizer range from curry leaves, ginger, garlic, kashmiri chili powder to thai bird chillies- few ingredients which always always make a happy indian recipe 🙂
Taste and Texture of Chicken 65
Taste of Chicken 65:- Robust, strong fiery flavors. It should tingle the tastebuds right away.
Texture of Chicken 65- The chicken has to be extra crispy on outside and succulent on inside. Image it like boneless crispy crunch chicken wings tossed in a fiery sauce. Crisped curry leaves and chopped garlic also add to the texture of the dish.
What Cut of Chicken to choose?
Use boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat for making chicken65. Dark meat from chicken thighs or leg are super flavorful and stay juicy during marination. They do not dry up while frying. Do not cut too big or too small pieces of chicken. Bite size is right. Keep in mind that the chicken will shrink a bit when you fry.
Ingredients You Will Need
How to Make Chicken 65?
Largely, there are three main steps involved in the recipe of chicken 65.
- Marinating the Chicken
- Deep frying the Chicken
- Tempering the Chicken
Chicken 65 Marinade
The marinade for chicken 65 has to be delicious. Since the tempering doesn't use many ingredients, most of the flavor of the chicken is from marination. I marinate boneless chicken in spices and yogurt for a few hours. If you are short on time, marinate for at least 2 hours. You can marinate chicken for 1 day. The color of marinate is pretty red from the use of kashmiri red chilies. You can use a few drops of food color but I avoid it. Once you marinate the chicken, a big chunk of effort in making chicken 65 is taken care of.
Tip: Use thick yogurt or hung curd for making the marinade. Both the chicken and yogurt will release water due to salt while marination. If the marinade is runny to begin with, by the end it will be slightly watery.
Deep Fry to Crispy Perfection
Once marinated add rice flour and corn starch and then immediately deep fry the chicken. Deep fry in hot oil in batches.Overcrowding the oil will make the chicken soggy and the pieces will stick to each other as well.
Tip:- Once you have added the chicken to hot oil, don't toss and turn until you notice that the bottom is nicely browned. Flip to cook on second side.
Temper For Extra Flavor
Once deep fried, immediately toss the chicken with curry leaves, garlic and green chilies. This step has to be done quickly. I like to prepare everything beforehand- like wash the curry leaves, chop the garlic. The garlic should not brown. Else it will taste bitter. The crispy curry leaves add to the textures of the overall dish.
My Tips
- Always use dark chicken meat for this recipe. Don't use chicken breast.
- You can easily make this recipe vegetarian by using paneer, soy chunks or mushrooms . Just marinate for 30-40 minutes in that case.
- Rice flour adds a lot of crunch and tastes good instead of just using cornstarch.
- Don't add very sour or too watery yogurt else the marinade will be runny and you will have to add a lot of rice + corn flour, this takes away the actual taste of the chicken in the dish and its tastes of flour.
- While frying, don't add a large quantity of oil since you cannot re-use the oil. It gets flavored with spices by the end of deep frying chicken. Simply discard it.
Chicken 65 Recipe
Ingredients
For Marinating Chicken
- 1.1 lb (500g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
- ½ teaspoon extra hot red chili powder, adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1.5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 3 tablespoon plain thick yogurt
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Oil for deep frying
- 2 tablespoon fine rice flour, unsweetened
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour)
For Sauteing
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 3 thai green chilies, slit in half
- 1.5 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 12-15 curry leaves
- 1-2 teaspoon sriracha (or Ching's red sauce) adjust to taste
- ½-1 teaspoon vinegar or lime juice
- Lemon slices, sliced onions, cilantro to serve
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken
- Add chicken to a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, chili powders, yogurt and turmeric. Mix well to coat. Cover and marinate for atleast 3 hours.
- Set the oil for frying to heat up on medium stove.
- Mix the rice flour and cornstarch with the marinated chicken. Use your hands to mix and coat all the chicken. The chicken should look dryish after coating.
- Check the oil by dropping a tiny piece of chicken. It should come uo sizzling. If so, the temperature of oil is right. Deep fry the chicken in small batches on medium high heat. Don't over crowd else the chicken will be chewy. Fry all the chicken in batches and drain on a paper towel.
Stir frying
- Heat up oil in a wok on high heat. Crackle the mustard seeds. Add the garlic, curry leaves and green chilies next. Saute for about 30 seconds on high heat till leaves crisp up a bit.
- Next add the sriracha. Saute for 10 seconds. Add the fried chicken, add vinegar and toss everything for couple minutes so that the fried chicken is coated nicely. Serve right away with lemons and sliced onions!
Notes
- Always use dark chicken meat for this recipe. Don't use chicken breast.
- You can easily make this recipe vegetarian by using paneer, soya chunks or mushrooms . Just marinate for 30-40 minutes in that case. In step 1, substitute with paneer in batons, button mushrooms, tofu or soaked soya chunks.
- Rice flour adds a lot of crunch and tastes good instead of just using cornstarch.
- Don't add very sour or too watery yogurt else the marinade will be runny and you will have to add a lot of rice + corn flour, this takes away the actual taste of the dish.
- While frying, don't add a large quantity of oil since you cannot re use the oil. It gets flavored with spices by the end of deep frying chicken and you simply have to discard it.
Neha
Can you airfry instead of deep frying?
Tanvi
Yes absolutely. Drizzle oil and layer in a single layer in your air fryer. You will have to do in batches 🙂
Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen
This looks really delicious!