Chicken 65 (Baked Version)
Chicken 65 is an Indian style fried chicken, a popular chicken starter recipe. Learn how to make a baked version of this classic Indian chicken snack, making it an almost guilt-free treat!
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken thighs/breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
For the marinade
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoons red chilli powder/ cayenne pepper, adjust as per desired heat
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice/vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro, dhania leaves
For the outer coating
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons rice flour
- 1 tablespoon oil
For the sauce mix
- 3 tbsp Red chilli sauce, you can also use chilli garlic paste instead
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar, optional
- Salt, to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
For the tempering
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 large garlic cloves, finely minced, or 10-12 small garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger, finely minced
- 3 to 4 green chillies, slit lengthwise
- 3 to 4 dry red chillies
- 18-20 curry leaves
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice/vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Transfer chicken chunks to a mixing bowl and add all the ingredients listed for the marinade in a bowl except for the egg, cornstarch, and rice flour and mix it well. Coat chicken pieces well with the marinade. For best results let it marinate overnight, however, I would recommend marinating for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. After the chicken has marinated, add in the beaten egg, cornstarch, and rice flour. Mix well. ( The batter should coat the chicken pieces well, if there is too much moisture, add more rice flour or cornstarch, if it's too dry, sprinkle very little water, enough to let the flours coat the chicken well).
- Place the chicken pieces on a greased wire rack above a baking tray. You can also place them on a greased baking tray or a greased parchment paper/foil. Brush the chicken pieces with oil and bake for 18- 20 minutes turning once in between or until the chicken is cooked through. Broil the chicken for an additional 3-4 minutes. Cooking times may vary depending on your oven and the size of the pieces, so keep an eye. You can serve it as it is now with some lemon wedges and onion rings, or continue a step further to make the sauce to coat the pieces.
- When the chicken is almost done, start with the tempering. First in a bowl combine the red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, garam masala, sugar, salt, and pepper. Whisk well to combine everything.
- Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds, when they splutter add minced ginger, garlic, slit green chillies, dry red chillies, and curry leaves. Sauté until curry leaves, chillies are crisp and the ginger-garlic is fragrant.
- Add Kashmiri red chilli powder, cook on medium low heat for another 15 seconds.
- Immediately add in the prepared sauce mixture along with 1/3 cup water, cook on medium heat until it bubbles and thickens a little. Now, add lemon juice/ vinegar and mix.
- Add in the cooked chicken pieces and toss to coat evenly with the tempering and sauce. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro, and serve immediately with some onion rings and lime wedges
Notes
- This dish is fairly spicy, reduce the chilli powder, pepper powder and chilli sauce for a milder version.
- For an Andhra style Chicken 65, make the sauce for the coating in the following way- In a mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup yogurt, 3 tablespoons red chilli sauce. 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup (optional), salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder, 1 teaspoon cornstarch (to prevent the yogurt from splitting once added to the tempering), whisk well to make a smooth and lump free batter. After you follow step 5 & 6 i.e the tempering, lower the heat and add in the prepared yogurt mixture, stir continuously until the sauce is bubbly and thick. Then add in the baked/deep-fried chicken pieces, mix and stir until the chicken has absorbed all the sauce mixture. Serve hot with onion rings and lime wedges.
- You can add some red food color to the marinade and the sauce mixture.
- You can deep fry or shallow fry the chicken instead of baking.
- Measuring cup used. 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml