Chicken 65 is the most quintessential restaurant style dish that’s a must order in a Tamilnadu style non-veg restaurant. It is believed that the dish was introduced by Madras Buhari restaurant in the year 1965. Hence the name. Its nothing but deep fried chicken in a coating of a spicy masala. The key to a good fried chicken is in the juiciness of the cooked chicken. The chicken should not become dry. A good marination will help in tenderizing the chicken.
Here is how to do chicken 65. The secret ingredient in my marinade is the whole wheat flour / atta. It coats the chicken so well and it fries very crisp in oil. I also add an egg in the marinade. The eggs tenderize the chicken pieces and helps in retaining the moistness after cooking without making the chicken go dry.
We will be using 2 boneless chicken breasts for chicken 65 today. Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces so they cook fast. Add the chicken pieces to a bowl and add in all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well to coat evenly. Let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan until hot. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the oil.
Add a handful of curry leaves to the oil at the same time.
Here are some points to note while frying chicken so the chicken doesn’t become hard. # Do not fry chicken in really super hot oil. Let the flame be at medium high at all times. Frying in really hot smoking oil makes the chicken hard and rubbery. # Do not crowd the pan. Add only as much the pan will hold without crowding. # Boneless chicken breast cooks fast after marination. Once the bubbles in the oil subside, its an indication that the chicken is done. Remove and drain on paper towels. Continuing to cook the chicken even after the bubbles have mostly subsided will give you hard chicken. Some bubbles will remain and that’s fine. # It took not more than 2 minutes for me for each batch of chicken. Take a chicken piece from oil and break it into two. If the meat is white inside, its done. Do not over cook the meat. When most of the bubbles have gone, remove the chicken pieces from oil. Drain on paper towel.
Serve hot.
For the marinade
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 tablespoon corn flour
- 2 tablespoon whole wheat flour – atta
Other Ingredients
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 500 ml vegetable / sunflower oil to deep fry
- Add the chicken pieces to a bowl and add in all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well to coat evenly. Let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan until hot. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the oil.
- Add a handful of curry leaves to the oil at the same time.
- When most of the bubbles have gone, remove the chicken pieces from oil. Drain on paper towel.
- Serve hot.
Notes
For a deep red color, you can add a pinch of red food coloring to the marinade. This is an optional ingredient. I have not added any food coloring.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
For the marinade
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 tablespoon corn flour
- 2 tablespoon whole wheat flour – atta
Other Ingredients
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 500 ml vegetable / sunflower oil to deep fry
- Add the chicken pieces to a bowl and add in all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well to coat evenly. Let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan until hot. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the oil.
- Add a handful of curry leaves to the oil at the same time.
- When most of the bubbles have gone, remove the chicken pieces from oil. Drain on paper towel.
- Serve hot.
Notes
For a deep red color, you can add a pinch of red food coloring to the marinade. This is an optional ingredient. I have not added any food coloring.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/chicken-65-recipe-boneless-chicken-65/
I grew up in a place called Pappanaicken Palayam. ( You would have heard that name in a lot of Goundamani – Sathyaraj Jokes). In my class, there were twin sisters, Karthika and Krithika. They were popularly called as the ice company ponnunga (girls) as their grand father ran an ice cream manufacturing company. Their brother was my brother’s class mate and all of us went to the same school on our cycles. Me and Karthika would do slow cycling every day. The last to reach is the winner. We would go to our brother’s class and bother them with geometry box or a scale or something. They hated us coming to their class. But we did it regularly. Me and Karthika were last bench-ers and all we did was giggle throughout the day. Apparently for no reason most of the time. This Thellattu is their mom’s recipe and a childhood favorite of mine. We have had buckets of this vada in the name of group study. Those golden days are nothing but over but this vada brings in so much of nostalgic memories doing exhibits for science projects, memorizing Thirukural for Tamil class (We hated that man Thiruvalluvar so much for making our life so difficult during school days). Here is Thellattu vada, Pappanaicken Palayam style. Here is Anu auntie, Karthi-Krithi’s mom in her kitchen.
Soak the urad dal and rice in water for a couple of hours. Drain the water completely and transfer the rice and the dal to a mixie jar. I have a panasonic mixie and its a powerful mixie for an Indian Kitchen that involves a lot of grinding. I recommend it.
Start grinding the mixture. Pulse several times. Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time. We need a very thick batter. So add very less water.
The batter will slowly become smooth. Do not add a lot of water. I added around 3 tablespoon of water totally. Remove the ground batter. It must be very thick. Cover with a lid and allow it to ferment for 4-5 hours.
To the fermented batter, add in the finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Add in the fresh shredded coconut. Add in the salt and the asafoetida (hing). Mix well. Add a tablespoon of rice flour if the batter is watery. Do not add too much rice flour. Just a tablespoon or two. Mix well. The batter should be very stiff.
Heat oil in a pan until hot on a medium flame. Wet your hands in water. Take a little marble size ball of dough with the wet hand and slide it into the oil.
Fry till the bubbles in oil fully subside.
Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot.
- Measurements Used – 1 Cup = 250 ml (approx)
For grinding
- 1/2 Cup Whole White Urad Dal (unpolished)
- 1/3 Cup Idli Rice (Par Boiled Rice)
- 3 Tablespoon Water
Other Ingredients
- 1 Onion, finely chopped
- 4 Green Chillies, finely chopped
- 1/2 Inch Ginger, finely chopped
- 2 Sprigs Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Shredded Coconut
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
- 2 Tablespoon Rice Flour (If necessary – See Notes)
- 500 ml Oil for deep frying (vegetable, canola or sunflower oil)
- Soak the urad dal and rice in water for a couple of hours. drain the water completely and transfer the rice and the dal to a mixie jar.
- Start grinding the mixture. Pulse several times. Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time. The batter will slowly become smooth. Remove the ground batter. It must be very thick. Cover with a lid and allow it to ferment for 4-5 hours.
- To the fermented batter, add in the finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Add in the coconut, salt and the asafoetida (hing). Mix well. Add a tablespoon of rice flour if the batter is watery. Do not add too much rice flour. Just a tablespoon or two. Mix well.
- Heat oil in a pan until hot. Wet your hands in water. Take a little marble size ball of dough with the wet hand and slide it into the oil.
- Fry till the bubbles in oil fully subside.
- Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot.
Notes
Add in the rice flour only if the batter is not stiff. Else no need to add rice flour.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
