Chicken 65

Spicy, slightly sweet and tangy Indian street food is something that I live for and I must admit that I don't cook enough of it at home. I love pani-puri, chaats of all sorts, pieces of masala meats and basically all things Indian street food. I wanted to try out the much loved Chicken 65 for a long time and contrary to popular belief it does not include 65 spices but we do get quite close. This recipe is mouth-watering, exotic and gives you a burst of different flavours with each bite. Let's get cooking!

Serves: 2

Ready in: 40 minutes

Difficulty: ★☆☆

Ingredients

Chicken marindade:

1 medium sized chicken breast, washed and cut into cubes
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1-2 green chillies, sliced
1 stem of curry leaves
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp corn starch
1 egg
1 drop of red food colour (optional)
Drizzle of oil
Salt to taste

Yoghurt dressing:

4-5 tbsp greek yoghurt
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce

Rest of the ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 green capsicum, roughly sliced
1 bunch coriander, chopped
3-4 whole green chillies
Ready made naan bread
Oil to deep fry

Method

Place all "chicken marinade" ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with hands. Once combined, set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes in room temperature. 

Place all "yoghurt dressing" ingredients into a small bowl and stir until combined. Taste and adjust ingredients to your preference. Set aside in fridge. 

Heat a large work or deep saucepan on medium-high heat with enough oil to deep fry the chicken. Use one piece of chicken to check oil temperature and once sizzling, deep fry remaining chicken in small batches until cooked through and crispy. This should take 6-8 minutes on medium-high heat. 

Place fried chicken on a plate or bowl lined with paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Set aside. 

Pour frying oil into a different dish, reserving 2 tsp amount of oil in the original pan. Place the pan back onto the stove on medium heat. Fry cumin and mustard seeds until sizzling and fragrant followed by capsicum and whole chillies. Sauté for a few minutes until capsicum is cooked to your liking, add in the fried chicken to combine. Remove pan from heat and set aside. 

To serve the chicken 65, heat up ready-made naan in the microwave or on the stove so that it's warm and fluffy. Top warm naan with chicken, veggies and coriander. Drizzle yoghurt dressing and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Notes

You can use a separate pan to sauté chicken and veggies but I prefer to use the same wok that I used for deep frying as it contains flavour. 

For softer naan dab a small amount of tap water with a paper towel onto the naan before heating. The steam will flow through the naan making it warm and fluffy.