Chicken 65

I'm back to my kitchen blog after quite a few months. Getting more busy at work and don't find time to post my recipes.

Have a lot more recipes that were prepared by me in this gap and will post one-by-one.


Chicken 65, a deep-fried chicken dish popular as one of the main Non-Veg Starters in South India.

Though the name "Chicken 65" is universally used to refer to the dish, there are many different stories for how the name came about. It is generally acknowledged that no one knows which (if any) of these anecdotal theories are correct.

The 65 in the Chicken 65 represents the year it was introduced by the famous restaurant in Chennai called "BUHARI HOTEL". Hence the name "Chicken 65".

The number 65 is variously said to be the number of days taken to prepare the marinade or the year of the dish's creation. One account claims that the dish emerged as a simple meal solution for Indian soldiers in 1965. Other accounts claim that an enterprising hotelier targeted macho diners with a 65-chilli recipe and named the dish accordingly.

It is also told that the name Chicken 65 is evolved from the age of the chicken used to prepare this dish. The original recipe called for Chicken 65 was prepared using chickens which were 65 days or roughly over 2 months old. (Skeptics of this origin argue that typically a young tender chicken is just 25-35 days old and not 65 days. At 65 days the chicken would be old and fat.)

The name Chicken 65 relates to the number of pieces the whole chicken is cut up into before cooking.

There is one interesting story about how this particular dish got its name, Chicken 65. In year 1965, India fought a war with Pakistan and handed over significant defeat to its enemy forces. As a matter of pride, how Indian army fried enemy army like this dish, which is deep fried with lot of spices

Because of India's large number of chicken preparations, each preparation was given a number instead of an independent name. Chicken 65 came about as part of this numbering system.

Ingredients

To Marinate
Boneless Chicken - 500 gms
Egg white - 1
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Corn Flour Powder - 3 tbsp
Red food color - a pinch
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Ajnomotto - a pinch

To Deep Fry
Oil - to deep fry (as per your kadai size)

To Garnish
Onion Slices/Rings - 4 or 5
Lime Slices/Pieces - 2 or 3

Procedure
1. Cut the boneless chicken into small pieces, wash them and drain the water out.
2. Add the items given in To Marinate for 5 to 6 hours in the Refrigerator.
3. Take it out before an hour that you plan to deep fry.
4. Heat Oil in a pan to deep fry the marinated Chicken pieces.
5. Deep fry the marinated chicken pieces (by batches).

See to it that they are fried in a oil of little more medium flame for a less time. As Marinated Chicken is a tender meat, it gets cooked in a very less time.

5. Garnish hot and hot Chicken 65 pieces along with Onion and Lime Slices.