Chicken 65
A quick, yummy and irresistible chicken stir fry~Chicken 65 is a famous Hyderabadi appetizer served at parties and easily available at most of the restaurants and food stalls in Hyderabad city. Please do not ask me why is it called Chicken 65, I have no idea about it.
There exist many versions of this dish, and today I am posting my version. I also make a dry version with no sauce, and just the baghaar/tempering. Inshallah I will post it in the future sometime. For now, you can prepare this simple dish and impress your loved ones.
Chicken 65
Serve Chicken 65 along with Rumali rotis. If you cannot buy or prepare Rumali roti, just heat a thin tortilla on a flat griddle until nicely toasted on both sides and enjoy.
Note: Normally, the chicken 65 that is served back home in Hyderabad is fiery red in color, that is because red color is added to it. I do not add color to food and hence the different color.
Chicken 65
Boneless Chicken – 500 gms, cut into bite size cubes, washed and drained (you can also use chicken with bone if you want)
For Batter:
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp
Egg white – 1, large
Cornflour – 1 tbsp
Canola oil – to deep fry
For Baghaar:
Canola oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Black Mustard seeds – 1/2 tbsp
Green chillies – 10, small, each slit into two
Curry leaves – 20-25 fresh
Yogurt – 1/3 cup, lightly stirred until smooth
Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
Soya sauce – 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
For Garnish:
Fried cashew nuts – roughly chopped
Cilantro – roughly chopped
Onion rings
Baby carrots
Sliced cucumbers
Shredded lettuce leaves
Lemon wedges
Method:
1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add all the ingredients for the batter except egg and cornflour and and mix well. Add the chicken cubes and gently combine. Cover and let the chicken marinate for 1 or 2 hours. Later, bring the chicken back to room temperature and add cornflour and egg. Mix well. Deep fry the chicken pieces in hot oil for not more than 3 minutes in batches. Drain the fried chicken in a wire mesh strainer for the extra oil to drain off and keep aside until all are done.
2. In a mixing bowl, add yogurt, tomato ketchup, soya sauce and red chilli powder and mix well. Keep aside.
3. For baghaar/tempering, in a frying pan at medium high heat, add oil and as soon as it is warm add the cumin seeds and the mustard seeds. As the seeds begin to pop, remove the pan from heat and add the green chillies and curry leaves. Stir fry and let the pan cool down. Once the pan is slightly cool, add the stirred yogurt mixture and mix well. (if you add curd in hot pan the curd will curdle). Transfer the pan to the stove and keep stirring continuously at medium heat. Once boiling, add the fried chicken and mix well. Cover with a lid and let cook for 5-10 minutes. Keep stirring ever once in a while. Serve Chicken 65 on a platter garnished with fresh cilantro, fried cashew nuts, lemon wedges, lettuce leaves, cucumber slices, baby carrots and onion rings.
Luv,
Mona
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January 15th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
This is one very close to our heart, esp. my DD. She loves the dry stir fry. Will wait for the dry recipe:-) I wonder why it is called chicken 65.. 65 spices originally used? (that is my interpretation:-D )
January 15th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Ohhh it looks so yummy!
January 15th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Such a tempting chicken 65…yummmm!!!
January 15th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
This looks scrumptious. Mona, I can’t use green chillies so what do you suggest as a substiute. I can have red chilie powder.
January 15th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Yummy chicken. This was definitely a big time favorite back home. The version I heard about 65 is, it refers to the chicken which is 65 days old.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
indeed a famous hyd appetizer… scrumptious recipe!
January 15th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Love, love, love it!
January 15th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
nice appetizer!!
January 15th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Wow! The snack is appetiaing and I’m drooling at the picture right now!
January 16th, 2010 at 12:41 am
yummy picture and a yummy recipe ! I have had the dry version and loved it..will surely try yours because i can imagine how divine the gravy would be 🙂
January 16th, 2010 at 3:39 am
That looks absolutely yummy, Mona! Also, I couldn’t resist Googling about the origin of the name “Chicken 65”, and there came up a lot of interesting versions, including one that says that “65 is the pants size of Tarul Assani, the chef that invented the dish nearly 200 years ago.” 😀
I will try this tonight, inshaAllah. Thanks for sharing!
January 16th, 2010 at 5:33 am
Wow…this looks yummy!
January 16th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Looks yummy. Mona i also prepare Chicken 65 yesterday. will post it soon. I prefer dry version only.. its all time favourite of young and old..
January 16th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Its looks yummy!basically it is said tht in this recipe 65 masala is added may b that’s why.
January 16th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
It’s called chicken 65 bcuz it was number 65 in the menu list of the hotel that served it first…so they used the acronym the chicken tht is numbered 65.
January 16th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
wow..yummy yummy. never heard of adding yogurt in chicken 65. It looks really really delicious.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:37 am
I will try this Looks yummy really delicious.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
my favourite chicken recipe, I can eat the whole bowlful of it 🙂
January 18th, 2010 at 2:05 am
hello mona.i read u r recipe of chicken 65.but u not made excatly chicken 65 recipe.ingrideints r same but bagaar with zera rai is not correct use more fry green chillies and curry leaves for decoration.and yougurt is used by andhra people in chicken 65 recipe.instead of that add vinegar and green chilli souce and colour.then only it will be a perfect chicken 65 recipe.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
hey mona
i luv chicken 65 and ur recipe too.
i am thinking of trying this rec with paneer instead of chicken for my veg freinds. i did try with tofu and it was awsome.
rizruby
January 18th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Salaam! Ok, first I was floored by Kajals blog and from there I wandered here and I’m utterly speechless: a fellow hyderabadi muslim foodie, lol, masha’allah!I’m soooo coming back here every day…maybe even twice a day! Have much to learn from you insha’allah 🙂
January 20th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Looks very tempting:)
January 21st, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Lovely!reminds me, this was the first ever specialty chicken dish I learned from a friend.
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 am
nice saucy version, must be great with rotis!!
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:49 pm
hello and happy new year, mona. i love this recipe. it is tangy and spicy and looks GORGEOUS. we have smthg similar in Pakistan in terms of a number attached to the name of a dish- it is called 19B. it is a hakka chinese soup. the number comes from the numbering on the menu- all chinese restaurants which carry this soup refer to it as 19B and have it as item #19B on their menu!
Shayma, very interesting to know! ~Mona
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Hey Mona,
Chicken 65 with mustard seeds..its a new one.Looks yummy plus it isn’t dry like chicken 65 usually is.Gotta try this inshallah.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Again a delicious recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
February 4th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
This was my very fav chicken dish when I was growing up in Dubai … but I’ll be damned if I found anything as good when we moved to the US/Canada. I knew I could count on you to find an awesome recipe for this, Mona! Btw, thks for stopping by my blog and sending your best wishes for my new baby boy!
February 8th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I tried this recipe last night-its very easy but I would definitely omit the Ketchup-it makes it sweetish which is 100% not needed in Chicken 65.
April 9th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Hi Mona, we tried your recipe and this is how it turned out..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naacamera/4494145676/in/photostream/
thank you..
Chetana.
Chetana, Thanks for letting me know. Glad you liked it. ~Mona
December 12th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Aha! so that is why my gravy dries up! I dont add tomato ketchup and soya sauce. Waisey, the baghar is of slit green chillies and curry patta. the aroma comes out exactly like that then. 🙂
Your recipes are really nice.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:50 pm
First of all, chicken 65 is not an authentic Hyderabadi dish. I can vouch for this because I & my great grandparents were born in Hyderabad so I am an original Hyderabdi. This dish actually originated in the mess of military barracks. The mess had a long list of menu items. This particular chicken dish was No. 65 on the menu list. So, the military personnel started calling it chicken 65 for short.
Later on this dish became popular in South India mainly in Andhra & Kerala. It was introduced to Hyderabad only in the last few decades.
May 17th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
i totally agree with Ahmed Fiazuddin about the origins of chicken 65.& i would like to add that it was a miltary barrack in Tamil Nadu,in south of India.
January 5th, 2016 at 2:38 pm
I have tried this recipe it’s a very delicious recipe one must try this recipe once his/her life time.
I get water 😛 in mouth everytime I see this recipe or somebody talk about it.