🍗 Chicken 65

Name: Chicken 65
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: India · Chennai
Ingredients: 600 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces; 100 g plain yogurt; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; 1 tsp turmeric, salt; 3 tbsp ground rice; Oil for frying; 2 sprigs curry leaves, 3 green chillies, slit

Origin: India · Chennai

430kcal

per serving · 200 g

215kcal

per 100 g

40 gProtein20 g / 100 g

24 gFat12 g / 100 g

10 gCarbs5 g / 100 g

Chicken 65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken starter from South India: boneless pieces are marinated in yogurt with chilli, garlic and ginger, fried until crisp, then tossed with sizzling curry leaves and green chillies. The outside is crunchy and red with spice, the inside tender and tangy. It is served hot as a bar snack or starter, often with onion rings and lemon.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly5 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein20 g protein per 100 g — 37% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken

Not veganbecause of: chicken, yogurt

Contains dairybecause of: yogurt

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Milk

What it is made of

chickenchili peppercurry leavesgarlicgingeryogurt

Recipe

4 servings45 min

Ingredients

600 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces
100 g plain yogurt
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric, salt
3 tbsp ground rice
Oil for frying
2 sprigs curry leaves, 3 green chillies, slit

Method

Mix the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric and salt; coat the chicken and marinate at least 30 minutes.
Stir in the ground rice so each piece is lightly coated.
Fry in oil at 175 °C in batches for 5–6 minutes until crisp and cooked through; drain.
In 1 tbsp hot oil, fry curry leaves and green chillies for 30 seconds.
Toss the chicken in the tempering and serve hot with lemon wedges.

How to make it lighter

Air-fry or bake at 220 °C for about 18 minutes, turning once, instead of deep-frying.
Use chicken breast instead of thigh for a leaner version.
Serve as a shared starter with a large salad rather than as a main with rice.

History

Chicken 65 is widely credited to Buhari Hotel in Chennai, which is said to have introduced it in 1965; the many stories behind the number — from menu numbers to the count of chillies — are not confirmed. It has since become a fixture of South Indian restaurant menus and inspired paneer and cauliflower versions.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →