Chicken 65 (How to make Chicken 65 at Home)

Chicken 65 is a South Indian style fried boneless chicken chunks further tossed in a tempering of chillies, garlic and curry leaves. This Chicken 65 will soon become your new favourite appetizer. Whether in a large restaurant or a roadside eatery, Chicken 65 is a crowd-pleaser. In South India, chicken 65 is not only served as an appetizer but also as a side with a meal. You will find many versions of chicken 65 all over South India, with varying spices, flavours and texture. Every restaurant has a different style taste of chicken 65.

  Table of Contents

 1. About the recipe

 2. Ingredients

 3. Step-by-step method

 4. Tips

 1. About the recipe

According to Wikipedia, the dish was invented in the year 1965 by Mr. A.M. Buhari, who was then the former sheriff of Madras, now Chennai. The dish was first made and served at Hotel Buhari, Chennai, as chicken 65. The dish was at the 65th number on the menu of the hotel, that’s why the name.

Chicken 65 is a very simple fried chicken dish; you can make a baked version, too. The chicken is crunchy on the outside and succulent on the inside. The marination is full of strong flavours to make sure that each piece of chicken is a flavour party in the mouth. The addition of curry leaves gives herby fragrance to the dish. Here, I am sharing a very easy and simple recipe for this amazing and mouthwatering Chicken 65.

     Best Cut for Chicken 65

•  Use boneless chicken thigh meat for making chicken 65. Thigh meat is soft, flavourful and stays juicy during frying. The chicken breast will dry up during frying. Do not cut chicken pieces into too big or small; a bite-size cut is perfect for this dish.

            Let’s Start Cooking!

            Serving Suggestion: 4 

            Preparation time: 30 minutes

            Cooking time:  15 minutes

2. Ingredients:

     For Marination

• 500 gm boneless chicken(cut into bite size)
• 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder 
• 1 teaspoon of garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 2 sprigs of chopped curry leaves 
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon of yoghurt 
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour
• 1 tablespoon of rice flour 
• Oil for frying 

 For Tempering of chicken 65 

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
• 4 to 5 green chillies halved 
• 2 sprigs curry leaves 

 3. Step by Step method

• The chicken 65 recipe is completed in 3 steps.

1.  Marination of chicken
2.  Frying of chicken
3.  Tempering of chicken

        Marination of chicken  

• The marination of chicken has to be flavourful; in a large mixing bowl, wash and clean chicken pieces.
• Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, lemon juice and salt.
• Mix all the ingredients very well. Use thick yoghurt for marination because both chicken and yoghurt will release water due to salt while marinating.
• Leave it for a few hours; if you are in a hurry, leave it for at least 30 minutes to one hour.
• Add corn flour and rice flour to the marinated chicken. Coat all the chicken pieces. If you want the red colour of your dish, add a few drops of red food colour to give it a restaurant-like look.

        Frying of chicken

• Deep fry chicken pieces in a kadhai or deep pan. Fry all the chicken pieces in 2 to 3 batches. Do not overcrowd the pan; it will make chicken pieces soggy and stick together.
• Drain fried chicken pieces on a paper towel to eliminate excess oil.

      Tempering of chicken 65

• In a kadhai or pan, add oil on medium flame. Now add split green chillies, curry leaves, and chopped garlic.
• Immediately toss the fried chicken with curry leaves, green chillies and garlic. The garlic should not be brown. The crispy curry leaves add to the texture of the dish.

• Chicken 65 is ready to be served. You could sprinkle chaat masala powder right before serving. Enjoy this fried chicken with plain rice and dal or with hot soup or Rasam. It goes well, along with tea or coffee for your evening snacks.

  4. Tips 

• Use boneless thigh meat for a soft texture and better flavour.
• You can make this recipe vegetarian by using paneer, tofu, soya chunks or chaap.
• Adjust spices as per your preference. You can use Kashmiri red chilli powder for bright red colour.
• Rice flour gives lots of crunch and taste to the dish.
• While frying, don’t add too much oil for frying since you can not reuse the same oil because it gets flavoured by spices.