Chicken 65 Recipe

This delicious Chicken 65 will soon become your new favorite appetizer! Chicken 65 is a universal favorite of the South Indians and this is what we all have been eating in the restaurants for years. Be it an upscale restaurant or a budget eatery, chicken 65 is a crowd-pleaser and has found a top place on the menus & orders. Apart from being eaten as an appetizer, it is also eaten as a side with a South Indian meal in restaurants & households alike. It goes fantastic with Rasam & rice, Sambar & rice etc.

In this post I show you how to make restaurant style chicken 65 that’s really addictive, flavorful, crispy and super delicious. Instructions to air fry & bake in oven included.

Are you curious to know ..

What is Chicken 65?

Chicken 65 is a South Indian deep fried chicken appetizer, originated in Hotel Buhari in Chennai. Chicken pieces are marinated with flour, spices, yogurt, egg, and curry leaves. These are later fried to perfection until golden and crisp. Apart from being super flavorful, Chicken 65 is crisp on the outside, Juicy & tender inside.

If you ever ask people what is ‘65’ here or why is it called “chicken 65”? You are sure to hear bizarre answers! However according to Wikipedia, the dish was invented in the year 1965 by Mr. A. M. Buhari, who was the then former Sheriff of Madras, now Chennai. The dish was first made and served at Hotel Buhari, Chennai as Chicken 65, since it was invented in the year 1965.

Several other dishes like chicken 78, chicken 82 etc. were also invented in the same place, where each dish was named after the year. Among all these, chicken 65 has been a classic hit for the amazing flavors and the texture of fried chicken.

However, you will find numerous versions of chicken 65 all over South India, with varying spice levels, texture and flavors. A few restaurants even name them after the place as Hyderabadi, Madurai style, Andhra style, Tamil Nadu style etc. You will be surprised to find that chicken 65 tastes so different in every restaurant.

About the Recipe

I have shared the authentic Chicken 65 recipe along with a few variations which we personally love at home. In restaurants Chicken is deep fried but you can always bake or air fry it for a healthier option.

The authentic dish is quite simple and straight forward, we marinate the chicken and then deep fry similar to Chicken Pakora. The dish is ready to serve & no extra tempering/ tadka is made.

One of the variations I have shared here is to make a tempering with curry leaves, garlic, green chilies and red chilli powder. This step adds another layer of flavors, especially garlic adds a punch. You can always skip it but this helps to adjust the seasonings in case your chicken is not spiced well.

The Hyderabadi version is similar to the above, but little yogurt is added to the tempering. This imparts a slight tang to the dish. This has to be served immediately as the chicken begins to lose its crispness as it sits.

You will also find versions made with soya sauce etc and I am yet to experiment this.

More Chicken Recipes
Indo chinese chilli chicken
Chicken pakoda
Tandoori chicken
Hot garlic chicken
Chicken majestic
Chicken tikka

How to Make Chicken 65 (Stepwise Photos)

Marinate & Prepare

1.Cube chicken to approximately ¾ inch pieces. If using bone-in chicken you may keep them bigger. But make sure the pieces are almost of the same size as this helps them to fry or cook evenly. This recipe needs 600 grams (1.3 lb) boneless chicken or 1 kg (2.2 lbs) bone-in chicken.

2. To the chicken. Add

• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon red chili powder (reduce for low heat)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (or ½ tsp garam masala, ¾ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder)

3. Add the rest of the ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (finely chopped)
• 4 tablespoons curd (plain yogurt, refer notes)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

4. Marinate the chicken. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour to a maximum of 36 hours in the refrigerator.

5. Rinse 2 sprigs curry leaves and 4 to 6 green chilies. Pat them dry with a kitchen tissue. Slit the green chilies and deseed them. Any moisture on the curry leaves and green chilies will splatter oil while frying. Also the chili seeds will burst.

Prepare Tempering Ingredients

6. Before frying the chicken prepare the tempering ingredients if you intend to make my spicy tempering. You can also skip this if you want to simply make the Chennai style Chicken 65. But this spicy tempering adds a punch to the dish. Set aside 1 tablespoon garlic chopped (2 large cloves).
To a small bowl, add

• 2 teaspoons red chilli powder (Kashmiri/ byadgi)
• ½ to 1 tablespoon garlic paste (or crushed, read my notes)
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar (optional but recommended for crispness)
• ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar (optional, cuts down the pungent flavor)
• 2 tablespoons water

Mix all of the ingredients and keep the bowl aside.

Coat the Chicken

7. When you are ready to fry, pour oil to a heavy bottom deep pot and begin to heat it on a medium flame. Add 4 tablespoons corn starch and 2 tablespoons rice flour.

8. Mix together to coat the chicken well with the flour. It will be dry. Pour 1 egg white or 2 ½ tablespoons curd and mix well.

9. You must have a fairly moist coated chicken, not runny coating or too dry. If it is too dry, sprinkle some water. If you go wrong with the proportion of flour & curd/ egg, the coating from your fried chicken is more likely to come off while frying. So be cautious here.

Fry Chicken 65

9. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small portion of the batter to the hot oil. It should come up to the surface without turning brown. If the batter sinks and remains there, it means the oil is not hot yet.

10. Gently drop the chicken pieces one by one to the oil. Do not disturb them meaning do not touch them for at least 2 minutes. This helps the coating to remain on the chicken without coming off.

11. Later stir them and continue to fry on the medium heat until crisp and golden. Mine took about 4 ½ to 5 minutes. This is just to let you know an approximate time but it may vary depending on the intensity of heat, source of heat and the kind of pan used.

12. The last 1 minute I prefer to fry mine on a low heat and this helps to crisp up a little more. Remove them to a steel colander. This way continue to fry all of the chicken in batches.

13. Reduce the flame to low. Place the curry leaves on the strainer ladle and gently lower it to the oil. Let them fry until crisp. Remove to the fried chicken. Do not forget to pat dry your curry leaves before frying to avoid oil splatters.

14. Place the slit and deseeded green chilies in the strainer and lower to the hot oil. Fry until they blister lightly. Do not forget to deseed them first.

Transfer them to the fried chicken and serve immediately. This Tamil Nadu / Chennai restaurant style version is not tempered and is served this way. But it is mostly made with bone-in chicken.

Make the Spicy Tempering

15. To a wok, pour 2 tablespoons oil, fresh or fried chicken oil. When it turns hot, add garlic, 2 slit green chilies and 5 to 6 curry leaves. Fry until the leaves turn crisp.
Slide the curry leaves, garlic and chilies to a side in the wok, pour the chilli garlic paste, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons water.

16. Taste test the fried chicken and the sauce in the pan. Adjust salt and chili powder accordingly.

17. Stir and let cook until thick and the water has almost evaporated. You should be left with a thick paste in the wok. This is very important else you will be left with soft chicken.

18. Turn off and add chicken. Toss well to coat the spices. I forgot to sprinkle black pepper but this is the right stage to add in.

Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with curry leaves and green chilies. Serve chicken 65 with lemon and fresh cut onions.

Serve as an appetizer or as a side in a South Indian Meal. It also goes well with Chinese fried rice, South Indian style Ghee rice, Andhra style Coconut milk pulao or South Indian coconut rice.

Pro Tips

Choosing Chicken: Bhuhari Chicken 65 is made with bone-in chicken. However in the restaurants boneless version is more popular. You may choose chicken breast or thigh, whatever you prefer.

Chicken thigh is higher in fats so it won’t dry out even if you cut down the marinating time. Chicken breasts work well if you marinate it for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours. The yogurt in the marinade will incorporate some fats so they won’t dry out. If you skip this step the fried chicken may get overcooked and dry out & become chewy.

Spices: Using only garam masala works well. But if it is too strong, then use it in combination with cumin powder and coriander powder. Using a very strong garam masala or using a lot of it, sometimes leaves a bitter taste.

Red chilli powder: Restaurants use food color for a deep red color. I suggest not to aim for the color and simply use a moderate amount of Kashmiri red chili powder. Also note that using a lot of chilli powder in the marinade is going to alter the flavor of your chicken 65 and sometimes also gives a bitter taste. If you love the deep extra color make the spicy tempering.

Tempering: Tamil Nadu restaurant chicken 65 is made without a tempering. This was in the past and I don’t know in the recent years. But in Bangalore & Hyderabad restaurants you find both versions even now. I highly recommend making the spicy tempering as it really adds layers and layers of flavors.

We think this chilli garlic tempering was the invention of the popular South Indian Chef, Sanjay Thumma. I loosely adapted this from his version where he uses the store bought chilli garlic sauce. It took me a while to get to the similar taste with pantry ingredients. We absolutely love this tempering and I can say this makes the best Chicken 65!

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Chicken 65 Recipe first published in Feb 2013. Updated & Republished in May 2022.