Chicken 65 Recipe, How to Make Chicken 65 Step by Step

I always associate Chicken 65 with Madurai although I have only been to Madurai once and I didn’t eat Chicken 65 during that trip. Weird, I know, but not too much because Chicken 65 is a very popular and spicy street food in Madurai. Anyway, I am sure none of you are new to this deliciously spicy fried chicken dish from South India that serves as an appetizer as well as it does a main dish. Now, the Chicken 65 in roadside stalls and restaurants may look a bit different but that’s because they add a large pinch of red food colour and I didn’t. But I can assure you that these bite-sized pieces of chicken are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and adequately spiced up.

I once made Chicken 65 with Aachi Chicken 65 masala and it turned out really good. I wanted to make it from scratch so once that 50 gram packet ran out, I didn’t buy it any more in case it tempts me to stick to store-bought masala packets forever! I am a bit neurotic like that I guess, and while I have no issues buying masala powders at the store (I have never made garam masala at home, not yet anyway), there’s some special joy in making your own food, from scratch.

This Chicken 65 recipe will serve as a great starter for a South Indian meal for your guests but I do love a good dry chilli chicken or chicken majestic too. Check out all Chicken Recipes on Edible here for more Indian chicken recipes.

You may also like this easy chicken fry recipe.

Chicken 65 Recipe

★★★★★ 4.3 from 4 reviews

• Author: nags
• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 2 hours 15 mins
• Yield: 4
• Category: Appetizer
• Cuisine: Tamil

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Description

Chicken 65 is a spicy and unique preparation from Madurai, a template town in TamilNadu India. Learn how to make chicken 65 at home using this easy recipe.

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Ingredients

• 300 gm chicken breast, cleaned and cut into small cubes (boneless)
• 1/4 cup thick plain yogurt (or 1/2 cup buttermilk)
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp rice flour or corn flour (corn starch)
• A fistful of curry leaves
• 2-3 cups of oil, for frying
• 1 tsp vinegar (optional)

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Instructions

1. Mix the yogurt with all the spices, corn flour, ginger-garlic paste, and some salt. Add the vinegar only if your yogurt is not sour.
2. Add the chicken pieces to this and mix well.
3. Refrigerate this mixture for about 2 hours to let the marinade work its magic on the chicken pieces. You can also leave it overnight in the refrigerator
4. When you are ready to fry, heat the oil in a kadai or pan. The amount of oil should be enough to almost cover the pieces so the quantity required will depend on your pan.
5. Gently add the marinated chicken pieces one by one without overlapping and fry on a medium-low flame until golden brown, turning every once in a while. The outside should turn a dark golden brown otherwise the meat won’t be cooked through.
6. The chicken pieces will shrink a bit on frying as the moisture leaves the meat. The sizzling of the oil will also die down almost completely.
7. Do a quick taste test and remove from the oil. Drain on paper towels as you fry the next batch. Add the curry leaves when you are frying up the last batch and let it turn crisp.
8. Drain and add curry leaves to the fried pieces of chicken. Give everything a quick stir and serve hot with lemon wedges and raw sliced onions

How to make Chicken 65 – Step by Step Pictures

1. Mix 1/4 cup yogurt with all 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp pepper powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp corn flour or rice flour, 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste, and some salt. Add 1 tsp vinegar only if your yogurt is not sour. Add the chicken pieces to this and mix well.

Refrigerate this mixture for about 2 hours to let the marinade work its magic on the chicken pieces. You can even leave it overnight if you want to prep it ahead.

2. When you are ready to fry, heat the oil in a kadai or pan. The amount of oil should be enough to almost cover the pieces so the quantity required will depend on your pan.

Gently add the marinated chicken pieces one by one without overlapping and fry on a medium-low flame until golden brown, turning every once in a while. The outside should turn a dark golden brown otherwise the meat won’t be cooked through.

3. The chicken pieces will shrink a bit on frying as the moisture leaves the meat. The sizzling of the oil will also die down almost completely. Do a quick taste test and remove from the oil. Drain on paper towels as you fry the next batch. Add the curry leaves when you are frying up the last batch and let it turn crisp.

4. Drain and add to the fried pieces of chicken. Give everything a quick stir and serve hot.

Hot and spicy Chicken 65 recipe is ready! Serve with lemon wedges and sliced red onions.

Notes:

1. It’s important to fry the chicken in low heat otherwise the outside will start to begin while the inside remains raw.
2. If you want the colour you see in restaurants, you have to add red food colour
3. If you don’t have cornflour, use rice flour to give the outside a bit of crispness
4. My version was not very spicy so adjust the heat  level to your preference. Using Kashmiri chilli powder will give your chicken a more brighter colour than regular chilli powder, without the use of food colours
5. If the marinade is too thick, you can add some water
6. If your yogurt is not sour and you don’t have vinegar or don’t want to use it, add a few drops of lemon juice to the marinade

For Chicken 65 recipe in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar.