5 February, 2023
CHICKEN 65 : Why 65 In Name?
How Did This Dish Get “65” In Name?
Super crispy and super spicy, deep fried chicken dish which is extremely “Red” in color, became very popular all across India and is often served as a starter. ‘Chicken 65’ is made by deep frying the marinated chicken chunks and then quickly dry tossing it in a tempering of a few spices. Crispy on the outside and very moist and juicy on the inside. The crispier it is, the tastier it will be.
This is a famous appetizer on the roadside eateries of Chennai. The tempering of curry leaves, green chillies, mustard seeds, ginger, garlic, kashmiri red chilli powder and black peppercorns makes its taste unique, magical and flavourful.
This dish will set your mouth on fire and make your eyes watery, it is that much spicy.
Its vegetarian versions ‘Paneer 65’ and ‘Gobi 65’ are also very popular. Paneer 65 is one of my favorite snacks.
For “Gobhi 65” recipe, Click this link https://foodiegarima.com/gobhi-65-recipe/
The Origin and History:
“Chicken 65” was invented in the “Buhari Hotel” of ‘Chennai’, Tamil Nadu by its founder, A.M. Buhari in the year 1965.
Place of Origin : Buhari Hotel, Chennai (India)
It is allegedly said that when India was at war against Pakistan, Buhari Hotel invented a chicken dish which could be prepared instantly to serve the soldiers. And Chicken 65 was the result of such an experiment and was accepted widely.
Its immense popularity led the other states to start their own versions of Chicken 65 cooked in distinct style using different ingredients. Some restaurants add sauces or ketchup in this dish and call it Chinese style Chicken 65. But no sauce is used in the original recipe. This Chinese style Chicken 65 is also very popular and perhaps this is the reason some people are under the wrong impression that Chicken 65 is the invention of China.
Have you ever wondered why there is number “65” in the name of this dish?
There are few interesting historical claims and misconceptions behind the naming of this dish.
Some people claim that the chicken was cut into 65 pieces for the preparation. And some say the chicken was marinated for 65 days to retain the flavor and that’s why it got this unusual name Chicken 65. Some people even say that this dish has 65 different spices. And some say that the spices used in this dish were brought from 65 different villages. That’s why named it “Chicken 65”.
Yet another much talked about tale related to Indian army soldiers who visited the military canteens in Chennai. The canteen’s menu was written in Tamil and most soldiers couldn’t read it. They loved a chicken dish which was against the serial number 65 in the menu and used to order it by specifying the dish number 65. Because of the language barrier, It was easy for the soldiers to remember the dish referring to the number.
What is the real story? Why is it named “Chicken 65”?
The real story behind naming is that this recipe was invented in the year 1965. People loved this dish a lot. The recipe creator named it simply after the ongoing year or the year of invention of this dish which was 1965.
Later on, the hotel came up with other versions like Chicken 78, Chicken 82 and Chicken 90 which were similarly named after the year they were first prepared at the Buhari Hotel. But these versions of dish were not as popular or amazing as Chicken 65. Chicken 90 is still on their menu.
The Making :
The Chicken 65 recipe consists of two important parts; first is “marination“ and second is “tempering“.
Its thick marination paste consists of curd, ginger garlic paste, chopped curry leaves, black pepper powder, roasted cumin powder, salt and lots of red chilli powder. After marination, coat it in dry flours and deep fry it. Quickly toss the deep fried chicken chunks in tempering.
The dish should be vibrant red in color and spicy in taste.
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Healthy Veggie Chilla Recipe, Baby Corn Jalfrezi Recipe, Palak Paneer Rools Recipe, Beetroot Chilla Recipe, Poha Recipe and many other Recipes, Click Here https://foodiegarima.com/blog-3/
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