Chicken 65

This is India's version of fried popcorn chicken, and it's truly a must try! In this recipe, I'll guide you on how to make it extremely flavorful and crispy.

• Chicken 65 is mostly seen as a starter snack to be shared, but you can absolutely make it a full meal! I love it with naan, raita, cucumbers, and pickled red onions as a wrap.
• This appetizer is quick to whip up in a short time frame or great for making ahead of a party. It can be marinated for 24 hours so that it's especially flavorful.
• While deep frying in oil is delicious, it can also be air fried until crispy.

Chicken 65 is a spicy, South Indian fried chicken dish which is served as an appetizer or entrée. The flavor mainly comes from mild red chilis and curry leaves. It's most commonly enjoyed as a snack, shared amongst friends. It can also be served as a whole meal with roti or naan.

The way it's prepared varies greatly by region, with the most notable versions being Andhra-style and Hyderabadi-style. In these variants, the Chicken 65 gravy is made after frying the chicken and uses dahi so that it's tangy. Many variants also have flares of Indo-Chinese flavors, with soy sauce, egg, and ketchup.

You'd be surprised at how different it tastes across restaurants in India, and even the United States. There's really no right way to prepare it, so I like to keep it straightforward with the ingredients and focus on the flavor.

It has a funky origin story - most of them attributed to Hotel Buhari in Chennai, India. But some of them say that it's called Chicken 65 because it was the 65th dish on the menu, or it was marinated for 65 days, or even that it uses 65 ingredients.

The list goes on and on - with more absurd stories like it was made from 65-day old chickens, 65 different types of chilis, or that it was created in 1965 for soldiers.

For frying the chicken, you'll just need any neutral oil of preference.

The tadka, or tempering, portion requires a tablespoon of a fat like olive oil or ghee to roast the ginger garlic paste, green chilis (like serranos), kashmiri chili powder, and curry leaves.

This is where the curry leaves will get extra crispy and crunchy. The kashmiri chili powder will redden the chicken again, since it becomes a bit brown-ish after frying.

1. Marinate the Chicken
2. Fry the Chicken
3. Toss the Chicken in a Spicy Tadka

Each step is crucial for maximum flavor, crisp, and getting the deep red color on the finished product.

So, let's break it down.

To marinate the chicken, add the dahi, ginger garlic paste, kashmiri chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, and salt to a mixing bowl.

Remove the curry leaves from the sprig and layer them on top of each other. Chop them as evenly as possible with a sharp knife. Mix them in with the marinade.

Next, prepare the chicken. Trim the extra fat from chicken thighs. Pat the chicken dry. Slice the chicken into about 1-inch cubes. Add them to the marinade and toss it all together.

Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and allow it to marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, but ideally for 24 hours for the most robust flavors. I tried it both ways, and the 24-hour marination was significantly more flavorful and worth the wait!

When you're ready to fry, add the rice flour and corn starch into the bowl with the chicken and toss it all together so that the flour mixes with the thick yogurt-based marinade. It'll form a dry batter that's perfect for frying.

Note: If it's still too wet, add a half tablespoon of rice flour and corn flour at a time until the chicken is well coated.

When you're ready to fry the chicken, pour neutral oil into a wide, deep pot so that it's around 3 inches high. Turn the heat on medium, and measure the temperature until it gets to 350°F.

I like to drop a small piece of the batter into the oil to test if it's hot enough. If it bubbling vigorously and floats to the top, the oil is ready for frying.

While waiting for the oil to get hot, place a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Then, carefully drop in 10-15 pieces of chicken using tongs or your hands. Leave plenty of space between each piece so they don't get stuck together.

Once the chicken has started browning, after about 2 minutes, use a slotted spoon to gently give them a toss so each side gets crispy. Fry for another 2-3 minutes, for a total of 5-6 minutes depending on the size of the chicken cubes.

Pro Tip: You don't want to do this too early, otherwise the breading will fall off. The chicken fries up really fast but will be a deep reddish-brown when it's done.

Transfer the chicken to the cooling rack and allow it to drain off the oil. Get started on the next batch of chicken.

Pro Tip: To get the chicken even crispier, you can twice fry them as well! By now, the oil will also get a little reddish from the chili powder so it'll deepen the flavor. Add the chicken back into the oil in batches. This time, fry them for no more than a minute and return them back to the cooling rack.

The tadka is my favorite part because it allows you to get an extra layer of flavor on the chicken. However, if you taste the chicken and you love it, you can stop here and serve it.

While the chicken drains the excess oil, get started on the tadka. A tadka is tempering or blooming spices in a fat to get maximum flavor. Slice the chili peppers at a diagonal and remove the curry leaves from the stem.

In a skillet or wok, add about a tablespoon of oil or ghee on low to medium heat. Let it pool to one side, and then add in sliced chilis, kashmiri chili powder, ginger garlic paste, and curry leaves.

Fry them until the curry leaves get nice and crispy which will take around a minute or two. Be sure to keep stirring with a small spatula so that the chili powder doesn't burn.

Then, add the fried chicken back into the pan with the tadka. Toss everything completely so it coats the chicken. The skin of the chicken will be a brilliant deep red. This only needs a minute or two to rewarm the chicken before it's ready to serve.