Chicken 65

I want to share some very interesting material I found for chicken 65 on Wiki. I always wondered about where the dish got its name chicken 65,since a numerical name for a dish is quite unusual . I am so amused at how the dishes get their names (most of the time) This makes the dish even more interesting for me. So here is what I found on Wiki ;


While the name "Chicken 65" is universally used to refer to the dish, there are many different stories for how the name came about.^[1] It is generally acknowledged that no one knows which (if any) of these anecdotal theories are true:

• The 65 represents the 65 separate ingredients in the chicken
• The first price of this dish was 65 rupees.
• Weight of each piece is 65 gm.
• The 65 in the Chicken 65 represents the year it was introduced by the famous hotel in Chennai called "BUHARI". Hence the name "Chicken 65". They also serve Chicken 78, Chicken 82, Chicken 90 which are all introduced in those years. The number 65 is variously said to be the number of days taken to prepare the marinade or the year of the dish's creation. (However, 65 days of marination would mean that the chicken would start to decompose or if it was frozen then it would lose its taste and freshness). One account claims that the dish emerged as a simple meal solution for Indian soldiers in 1965. Others accounts claim that an enterprising hotelier targeted macho diners with a 65-chilli recipe and named the dish accordingly. It is also told that the name Chicken 65 is evolved from the age of the chicken used to prepare this dish. The original recipe called for Chicken 65 was prepared using chickens which were 65 days or roughly over 2 months old. Since this is a bar-snack, young and tender fried chicken goes as a good starter with wine. (Skeptics of this origin argue that typically a young tender chicken is just 25-35 days old and not 65 days. At 65 days the chicken would be old and fat.)
• The name Chicken 65 relates to the number of pieces the whole chicken is cut up into before cooking. (However, it has been suggested humorously that cutting a whole chicken into 65 pieces would make it a Minced Chicken and not chicken 65.)
• Another interesting story about the origin of the name stems from Indian Army soldiers from the northern states of India who were posted in Madras (now Chennai) would go out to the city for leisure. One of the restaurants popular with the soldiers had its menus in the local language. As a consequence the non locals who couldn't read the menu could not say names but would indicate their choice by referring to the number of the entree in the menu (in this case, the recipe correlated to the number 65) when placing their orders. It is said that the popularity of this dish spread amongst the soldiers when one tried, liked it and told his fellow service men about it. They were simply told to go get item 65 which soon was called simply as Chicken 65 and in time this became its official name for the entree.

         To begin with,my recipe does not have 65 ingredients :(  nevertheless it does taste very authentic and I
         made this for Diwali and served it as an appetizer,trust me -It just flew off the table in a matter of
        seconds . I have not deep fried the chicken . You have that option,I prefer not to,as I realized that
        this not make the dish taste any different,try it for yourself .

Serves : 7 as appetizer
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

  Ingredients:
  Chicken : 1 pound cut into 1 inch pieces (boneless)
  Tomato Ketchup: 10 tbsp
  Lemon Juice: 2 tbsp
  Salt: to taste
 Yogurt: 1/2 cup
 Oil: 10 tbsp
 Mustard seed : 1 tsp for seasoning ( do not grind these)
 Black peppercorn: 1 tbsp
 Coriander Seeds: 2 tbsp
 Rice powder: 2 tbsp or rice grains
 red chilli whole: 2 or kashmiri chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric: tip of the tsp
Curry leaves: dried or fresh 20 in number
Ginger: 1 tbsp
Garlic: 1 tsp

 

         Method:
    Take all the dry spices roast them and grind them to a powder and marinate the chicken in this along with yogurt,curry leaves,lime and 4 tbsp of oil  for an hour.

Now take a kadai and heat oil ,add mustard seeds ,when they start to splutter add the marinated  chicken pieces  and fry them in two batches,till the chicken is cooked and the masala clings to the chicken and you see the oil on the edges of the kadai. The Chicken 65 is ready to be enjoyed as a snack /appetizer or a side dish .