Chicken 65 Recipe with Gravy

About this Chicken 65 recipe

In this recipe post, I’ll show you how to make Chicken 65 Gravy, a mouthwatering twist on the classic South Indian Chicken 65. Plus, if you’re craving the original dry Chicken 65, I’ve got that recipe covered in the post too—so you get the best of both worlds.

This South Indian 65 recipe starts with boneless chicken pieces marinated with spices, lemon juice, and curry leaves. They are then deep-fried until golden and crisp. Temper it with garlic, green chili, and curry leaves and your classic South Indian chicken 65 is ready.

For the chicken 65 gravy - This crispy fried chicken is then cooked in spicy and tangy yogurt sauce and served immediately. The best part of this chicken 65 gravy recipe is the sauce - this creamy, spicy yogurt sauce that just coats the chicken and makes every bite delicious. It's my new go-to recipe. Serve it with jeera rice or pulao/pilaf as a side dish or with noodles.

You may also like these other popular chicken appetizer recipes from this website:

• Chilli Chicken
• Dragon Chicken
• Chicken Popcorn
• Chicken Pakora
• Garlic Butter Chicken Bites
• Hyderabadi Chicken Majestic

Ingredient Notes

To make Chicken 65 Gravy, you’ll need a mix of fresh, aromatic spices, yogurt, curry leaves, and juicy, marinated chicken that’s fried or baked to perfection. The ingredients are simple and easily available in your kitchen pantry.

For the Chicken 65 recipe

To make Chicken 65 Gravy

• Chicken - You can make a chicken 65 recipe with either boneless and skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
• Flavoring - ginger-garlic paste, black pepper powder, coriander powder, lemon juice, garam masala and sugar. You can substitute lemon juice with vinegar.
• Yogurt - You can use full-fat yogurt or homemade curd for this hyderabadi chicken 65 gravy recipe. Yogurt when added to the marinade keeps the chicken moist after frying. The chicken is then simmered in tangy red yogurt sauce.
• Kashmiri red chili powder - It gives your food a gorgeous red color without adding much heat. If you do not have it, skip it, and add normal red chili powder. However, your dish might be a little less colorful. In restaurant-style chicken 65, they add red food color to marinade. It will give a bright red color but does not add any flavor to the dish. I would not suggest adding food color as it is not good for health.
• Sauces - Tomato ketchup, red chili sauce, and soy sauce add the Indo-Chinese touch to the recipe.
• Fresh Curry leaves - This is an important ingredient for the Chicken 65 recipe that gives authentic South Indian aroma and flavor to the dish. Do not skip it.
• Fresh Garlic and green chilies - Basics of Indian cuisine. Fresh garlic and green chilies add awesome aroma and flavor to the tempering. You can skip the addition of green chilies if you prefer a less spicy yogurt sauce.
• Rice four and corn flour - This is the secret to making crispy fried chicken. You can skip the addition of rice flour if you do not have it. But the addition of rice flour adds an extra layer of crispiness to it. Add them just before frying.

For the detailed list of ingredients & their measurements, please check out the recipe card below. Here's how to make this chicken 65 recipe with gravy.

How to make Chicken 65 Recipe with Gravy

Marinate the chicken

1. In a mixing bowl, combine chicken with ginger-garlic paste, cumin powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, black pepper powder, salt, lemon juice, curry leaves, and yogurt.
2. Marinate for at least 2 hours. Let the chicken soak up all the delicious flavors. Cover and keep it in the refrigerator.
3. After 2 hours, take out the marinated chicken and keep it aside for 15 minutes or until it comes to room temperature.

Frying Chicken 65

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once the oil is hot, add cornflour and rice flour to the marinade and give it a quick toss. Add the flour just before frying as it makes the chicken crispy.
3. Add these marinated chicken pieces one by one to the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Do not stir it immediately. Let it cook for a minute. (image 5)
4. Gently stir and fry until it is golden brown and crisp. Remove fried chicken and set this aside on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain excess oil. (image 6).

To make chicken 65 recipe: Want to make the classic South Indian chicken 65 recipe - In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and heat it over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic, curry leaves and 2 green chilies, slit. Saute until aromatic, add fried chicken, and toss with this tempering. Chicken 65 is ready to serve. (Images 7 and 8)

To make chicken 65 gravy

1. Make yogurt sauce - In a medium-sized bowl, combine all the ingredients mentioned under the sauce. Keep it aside.
2. For the tempering - Heat oil over medium heat. Add cumin and let it crackle.
3. Add in onions, curry leaves, green chilies, ginger, and garlic. Stir and cook until onions are golden brown.
4. Reduce the heat to low. Whisk the yogurt mixture in the bowl and add it to the pan. Stir continuously until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens. It is important to stir continuously otherwise the yogurt may curdle.
5. Add vinegar and combine. Chicken 65 sauce is ready.
6. On medium-high, add the fried chicken and toss it for 2 minutes or until the sauce coats the chicken. Garnish this chicken 65 gravy with coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

Tips for making the best Chicken 65 recipe

1. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This is an important step, so do not skip it. The chicken will absorb all the flavors from the spices. The longer the chicken marinates the better it tastes. It keeps the fried chicken soft and juicy inside and crisp outside.
2. Add corn flour and rice flour to the marinated chicken just before you fry them. It will make the chicken pieces crispy. Do not add the rice flour and cornflour while marinating the chicken.
3. Do not fry the chicken pieces directly taken out from the refrigerator. Keep it aside for 15-20 minutes. If it is cold then it will lower the temperature of the oil.
4. Deep fry the chicken in medium hot oil. If the oil is very hot then the chicken will quickly fry from outside and will remain uncooked inside. Similarly, if the oil is not hot enough then the chicken will absorb oil and will become oily.
5. To check the exact temperature, drop a small piece of batter in hot oil. If it comes up quickly without getting burnt then it is ready to fry.
6. The use of curry leaves is an important part of making this recipe. Do not skip adding this as curry leaves give it an authentic taste and aroma.
7. Use full-fat yogurt at room temperature. This is important because if you add yogurt that is taken straight out of the refrigerator there are chances that it will curdle.
8. Add crispy fried chicken pieces to the yogurt sauce only when you are ready to serve. This will keep the chicken crispy coated in a flavorful sauce. If the fried chicken sits longer in the sauce it will be soggy.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Chicken 65 recipe

South Indian Restaurant Style Chicken 65

This is a dry version of Chicken 65 recipe. I posted the recipe earlier. I have made a few changes to the ingredients.

For the fry

• Soak Kashmiri red chilies in hot water for 5-10 minutes. Grind it to a fine paste. Set this aside. If you do not have them then use Kashmiri red chili powder.
• Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe card (except red chili powder). Instead of adding Kashmiri red chili powder, you can add 1 tablespoon of the prepared Kashmiri red chili paste. Also, add 1 teaspoon of chicken masala powder to the marinade and mix. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight. Cover and keep it in the refrigerator.
• While marinating the chicken you can substitute yogurt with one egg. This is optional.
• Deep fry the chicken over medium-high heat until crisp and golden brown. Keep it aside on a plate.

For the gravy

• Heat 2 teaspoon of oil over medium-high heat.
• Add 1 teaspoon garlic, 2 slit green chilies, and 1 spring curry leaves. Fry it for a minute.
• Add 3 tablespoon water, 2 teaspoon of red chili paste, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Combine.
• Next, add salt and a little sugar. Be careful, we have already added it while marinating the chicken. Give it a quick stir. The homemade chili-garlic sauce is ready.
• Add the fried chicken back to the pan, and mix well to coat it with the gravy. Serve hot and enjoy.