Dedicating the recipe to the beginning of 65th year of Independence...

Cock a doodle doo... Cock a doodle doo... Cock a doodle doo... Don't you dare call me Chicken... :)

On the first day of my beloved Country's 65th Year of Independence, thought why don't I dedicate a dish to the year itself on my blog. So, here we go with my dedication to the 65th Year of Independence - Chicken 65.

Freedom gives you the right to express your life and live your life the way you want and the same way, even I took the freedom to change the actual recipe to modify and make it easier for everyone. There are 'n' number of stories behind the birth of "Chicken 65" but I guess the most common and sounding relevant to the name is the story of a military canteen some where in South India. "A cook who used to work in the armed forces had come out and started his restaurant. He was finding it very difficult to name all the dishes which he invented to present in his restaurant to increase his cliental. So he just started writing them on the menu in a different style, that is instead of starting with serial number and then followed by main ingredient in the dish, he wrote it the other way round that is main ingredient in dish followed by serial number. For e.g., instead of "65. Chicken", he wrote "Chicken. 65" That's how the great dish was born.

Now, enough of history lessons and gyaan from my end and let's jump right to learn how this awesome and yummy dish is created.

Chicken 65

Ingredients - (For two people)

For Marination -

Boneless Chicken - 450 gms

Salt - To Taste

Chilli Powder - 1 tablespoon

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Kabab Masala/Chicken Masala Powder - 1 tablespoon

For 65 Masala -

Garlic - 10 cloves

Ginger - 1 1/2 inch piece

Curry Leaves - 5-6 nos

Green Chillies - 4 nos

Dry Red Chillies - 4 nos

Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Curd/Yogurt - 100ml

Salt - To Taste

Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Lemon - 1/2 no

Method to prepare -

Chicken 65 was born out of innovation or rather I could say disaster when a cook was trying to make chinese dish and didn't know head or tail about chinese cuisine. So as per the actual recipe of Chicken 65 the only chinese thing about it was the corn flour, egg and ajinomoto. Hence, I decided why even use those ingredients as its better to make it simple yet yummy enough to taste exactly like Authentic Chicken 65.

• First of all wash the chicken thoroughly in running cold water to make sure there is no dirt or any clotted blood or even excess fat or feathers
• Cut the chicken into small peices and make sure they aren't bigger than about 1/2 inch and now don't go searching for a scale to check if they are exact 1/2 inch or not... Don't worry just go ahead and cut it
• Now add salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and kabab masala powder to the chicken before leaving it to marinate for about 15 minutes
• Heat a deep frying pan with oil enough to deep fry these marinated chicken pieces
• Add chicken slowly to the hot oil and deep fry till they are golden brown on the outer crust, be very careful while adding chicken to the oil as dropping off the chicken can result in splattering oil on your hands and upper body

• Once deep fried keep chicken aside in a kitchen paper towel to drain out the oil, okay don't worry if you don't have kitchen paper towel when will you use all those newspapers which you pile up... Pull out some and put chicken on that to drain out excess oil
• In the mean time fine chop the garlic and ginger, slit the green chillies along with that just break the dry red chillies into two halves
• Heat a shallow frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and add cumin & mustard seeds to it
• Once the seeds start crackling add the curry leaves, red chillies & green chillies; fry for about a minute
• Now add the fine chopped garlic & ginger and fry till they are little golden in colour
• Add curd/yogurt to the mixture and then toss in the chicken along with salt to taste & red chilli powder
• Mix them well and fry for about 2 minutes before taking them off the stove and serve hot

Quite simple isn't it to make Chicken 65 and remember as always I say, "Cooking isn't rocket science... Recipe is an innovation done by a hunger man with very limited resources and time in hand." Enjoy your dish and let me know the feedback on my 65th year's gift to everyone.

- Thotaji Baawarchi :)