There are many myths about how this dish got its name: that it contains 65 chillies per kilo of chicken; that the chicken must be 65 days old; that the chicken is cut into 65 pieces or that it originated as ‘item number 65’ on such and such restaurants’ menu card. Whereas, the fact is that, Chicken65 was invented in 1965, at Buhari’s restaurant in Chennai, his own innovative dish and title. He later went on to invent a dish, ‘Chicken 78’, but it sank without a trace.
The popularity of ‘Chicken 65’ is quite amazing; perhaps the only other dish that’s caught on as rapidly is, ‘Chicken Manchurian’. Remarkably, within five years ‘Chicken 65’ had spread all over India.
By 1971, it had entered Mumbai restaurant gates. Yet another myth is that ‘Chicken 65’ is a Hyderabadi speciality, which isn’t true but then it hasn’t prevented Hyderabad’s eateries from jumping on the bandwagon.
Well with all its myths and stories travelling around, the fact is that ‘Chicken 65’ is a favourite starter for any occasion be it a birthday party, wedding, Corporate lunches, a pot luck get together or even a casual ‘drinks on the rocks’.
So this dish was voted as a favourite starter for our ladies special party and it rocked! (Or rather I should say disappeared…)
Ingredients:
- Boneless Chicken – 1 – 1.5 lb cut into small sized pieces
- Lime Juice – 2 tbsp
- Curd – 2 tbsp
- Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
- Dry masalas( mentioned below)
- Salt – to taste
- Corn flour (sprinkle 1 tbsp over the chicken)
- Food colouring – a little
- Oil – for deep frying
Optional
- 2 tbsp Corn flour(diluted in water)
(This can be added with the other ingredients for marinate or the other way is to prepare a batter with this and egg, to dip and deep fry)
- 4-5 Eggs – beat well for batter
To prepare the Dry masala:
- 200 gm of chilli powder
- 120 gm of turmeric powder
- 80 gm of cumin powder
- 100 gm of Black pepper powder
Blend together and store in a clean and dry, air-tight container as readymade ‘Chicken 65’ masala. This also can be used for any other Indian dish which needs a similar kind of marinating process.
{Just incase, you are not preparing the readymade masala, add the above dry masala ingredients according to proportion of the chicken and the spice required and mix well.}
For Garnish:
- Onions (sliced lengthwise or round)
Method No: 1
- Take a bowl and mix all of the mentioned ingredients (except oil) and allow to marinate for 3-4 hrs. (the longer it marinates, the better )
- Then, heat oil in a pan and deep fry(or you can shallow fry) the marinated chicken pieces till golden brown. Pat dry with paper towels (to remove excess oil).
- Garnish with sliced onions.
- Serve hot this, excellent appetizer/starter with Mayonnaise or as a side dish for biryanis/ pulao/other rice varieties.
Method No: 2
- Take a bowl and mix all of the mentioned ingredients (except oil and corn flour) and allow to marinate for 3-4 hrs. (The longer it marinates the better).
- Make a batter of beaten eggs and corn flour (diluted in little water), a little salt and mix well.
- Heat oil in a deep pan for frying.
- Dip the marinated chicken pieces in the prepared batter and deep fry till golden brown. Pat dry with paper towels (to remove excess oil).
- Garnish with sliced onions.
- Serve hot this, excellent appetizer/starter with Mayonnaise or as a side dish for biryanis/ pulao/other rice varieties.
Preparation Time:
Standing Time for chicken to marinate: 3-4 hrs
Cooking Time for deep fry : 20 minutes
Preparation for batter and marinate maslas:10 minutes
Serves: 4