eatbensmeat

When someone I know told me to make Chicken 65, I assumed it was some kind of engrish mistranslation, like if you went to a chinese place and ordered “Much Happy Luck Joy Chicken”.  Turns out it’s not, it’s a dish from India, and this is it’s actual name.  You can think of it as sort of Indian chicken nuggets, and it’s delightful. You marinate the chicken bits in yogurt and spices and then deep fry them.

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken breasts, cut in to nugget sized pieces

1-2 cups plain yogurt (however much it takes to to coat the chicken.  Start with 1 cup, add more if you need it)

1/4 cup garlic ginger paste (can find it in the Indian section of a grocery store) (this measurement is approximate, I kind of just slopped it in)

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)

1-2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Mix all of the spices and yogurt in a large bowl, and stir until it’s even.  Add the chicken, and mix it up until the chicken is evenly coated.  Cover and let it marinate, a few hours at least, overnight is best.

Heat up some oil over medium high heat until it’s hot (if you can’t tell when it’s hot, add a small amount of water to the oil as it heats.  Once it gets hot enough, the water will all boil at once and make a kind of booming noise as it exits the oil.  Very effective method of temperature measurement.  But scary as fuck the first time you hear it).  If you are not using a deep fryer, don’t go above medium high or the oil might start to smoke.

Drop in the chicken pieces until the pan is full of covered chicken pieces, and let them sit until fully cooked.  It should take around 8 minutes for a batch of nuggets.  Halfway through, lift them all with a spatula to keep them from sticking.  Once done, remove from the oil, put them on a plate or some paper towels to drain, and start a new batch.

How to eat it?  As an appetizer for a dinner party it’s amazing.  Personally I’ve been making it to accompany biryani as I take it out of the freezer.  Perfectly good on it’s own as a main dish.