CHICKEN 65

Oh! Not again Chicken 65...everywhere it is Chicken 65..I am tired of the name.

But I am not , I love this dish. This dish is spreading like wild fire, from Kanya Kumari to Kashmir, in the Gulf , in London etc. The specialty  of this dish is, the taste is not the same in any two eating joints. So you eat a new type of Chicken 65 every time. In Kuwait it is very  bland to terribly spicy. Even while staying at  Golconda Hotel, Hyderabad, I had an opportunity to cook few portions of this, under the supervision of an expert chef...but over the time I cant reproduce the same taste anymore. (Lack of practice) 

There are many stories behind the name, some people say, the chicken has to be 65 days old, some say 65 types of spice required to cook it. The story which I find more logical or realistic is that it was the Chicken dish at item No  65 on a menu at Madras regiment mess. So people just used to order " Bring Chicken -65".

 THE RECIPE

Basically it is a boneless chicken dish colored red, with a high spicy note of fried garlic, ginger, Curry Leaves and quite hot (Chili), slightly tangy due to a tangy sauce and lemon juice added at the end.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken boneless 200 gms ( I always use thigh portion as it is juicy and soft, one can use the breast piece), cut to small pieces say 25 mm X 12 to 20 mm) approx..

For the marinade

ginger garlic paste 1 tsp heap

freshly ground Pepper 1/2 tsp ( or more)

Yogurt 2 tsp level

corn flower 2 tsp heap

flour 1 tsp

Azinamoto 1/4th tsp ( optional) ( Mono Sodium glutamate)

Salt

egg 1

for the dish
cumin seeds 1tsp level
dry red chili 1
ginger chopped 2 tsp

Garlic chopped 1 tbsp heaped or more the merrier.

Green chili long chopped, 4 number of more , about 1 cm long and slitted.
Curry leaves 10 leaves

ginger garlic paste 1 tsp

Chili garlic sauce / spread 2 tbsp ( from the market any thing will do with a sour note, normally Tomato.) or I shall tell you how to make it. But buying it saves trouble.

Red chili powder 2 tsp ( or more)

Cumin powder 1 tsp level

Black peper powder 1/2 tsp or more.

Vinegar 2 tsp ( optional)

red color

Azina moto 1/4 tsp optional

coriander leaves chopped 1 tbsp

lemon juice 1 tbsp

salt

Oil for frying chicken

PROCESS

Wash chicken and cut into pieces

1st add yogurt , salt, ginger garlic paste, black pepper, Azina Moto ,mix well and leave aside for 20 min.

Add corn flour and flour (maida) , mix well and leave aside for 10 minutes.

Break egg into the chicken and mix .

Caution: Do not whip the egg, just mix it.
Heat oil in a KaDai or frying pan  and fry the chicken in batches. Immediately after adding chicken reduce heat and fry for 3-4 minutes. ( don't over fry, 5 minutes is more than enough to cook the chicken).

Keep the fried chicken aside. ( Dont worry, the chicken will not drink the oil)

In a deep frying pan, take 1 tbsp oil ( used in frying the chicken or fresh oil).
Give seasoning of Jeera and one red chili, add ginger and stir fry in low heat for 15 seconds
Add chopped garlic and stir fry to light brown, add curry leaves stir and add chopped green  chili.

Add ginger garlic paste followed by black pepper, cumin and chili powder stir ( remove from heat time to time to prevent burn out)
Add chili garlic sauce/spread and vinegar , keep stiring. Taste the sauce and add required salt to taste. ( The chicken already has some salt) 
add red color made in 1 tbsp water
stir and add 3 tbsp water or more to make a thick sauce. (This is the skill part to be acquired after cooking few times. The sauce consistency should be such that after mixing the chicken, it should not be too dry or too sticky and fluid.)

Stir the sauce well and with heat, add the chicken and mix well under low heat so that the sauce is well coated. Remove from heat and keep mixing.

The water in sauce will percolate into the chicken to some extent. So wait for some time to assess if you need more heating to drive some extra moisture out.
Please be assured the taste will not be affected if you don't fine tune the moisture.
Garnish with chopped corander and lemon juice ( optional) 
Eat as a starter, snack or with roti, rice.

NOTE: Dont over fry chicken. This size of the pieces should be tender within 3 minutes and one can eat straight after frying. Unnecessary frying will make the chicken hard and  dry.
You can fry excess amount of chicken and store in deep fridge for future use, not only for this also for all kinds of Indo-Chinese chicken dishes.
Add as much chili as you want. The red color is a traditional addition to dish and has nothing to do with the taste. But without the red color, no one will recognize it as chicken 65 


Happy Eating 


AWARDS


Dear Prasu , (http://myculinaryworld-prasu.blogspot.com/)
I am overwhelmed to receive so many awards from you. It is a great recognition from a great foodie like you..Thank you so much ....

Dear Sangeetha  ( http://kothiyavunu.blogspot.com/)
I am so happy to receive this award from a great cook like you ..Thank you so much!!! I think I will have more awards on this page than recipes, Ha  ha