Chicken 65

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish popular in South India, as a bar snack, entree, or quick snack. The flavour of the dish comes from ginger, cayenne pepper, mustard powder and vinegar although the exact recipe can vary. It can be prepared using chicken on or off the bone.

The name

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 correct

• Chicken 65 is alleged to be a dish introduced in 1965 by the Buhari Hotel restaurant in Chennai. They also offer Chicken 78, Chicken 82 and Chicken 90, introduced in 1978, 1982 and 1990 respectively. ^{[2] [3]}

• The dish is said to require 65 days to prepare the marinade, but this is unlikely for reasons of freshness and flavour.

• One account claims that the dish emerged as a simple meal solution for Indian soldiers in 1965.

• Another account claims that it is a dish containing 65 chilli peppers devised by an enterprising hotelier. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

• The name is also claimed to relate to a requirement for the meat to be from 65-day-old chickens.

• 65 may be the number of pieces that the whole chicken is cut up into before cooking, although an average-sized chicken cut into this many pieces would be closer to minced chicken than the chunks in chicken 65.

• Because of India's large number of chicken preparations, each preparation was given a number instead of an independent name. Chicken 65 came about as part of this numbering system.

References

1. ^ DiStefano, Joe (August 26, 2007). "A Taste of ... Hyderabadi". Gothamist. http://gothamist.com/2007/08/26/a_taste_of_hyde.php. Retrieved July 28, 2010. 
2. ^ Chennai Chicken 1997 Indian Express article by Ameeta Agnihotri
3. ^ The Hindu Goergo.com article
4. ^ Chicken 65 The Big Boys Curry Book
5. ^ Chicken 65 | Spice India Online
6. ^ Chicken 65 Crispy Deep Fried drumsticks recipe
7. ^ VIZMAYA » Chicken 65

Dominick