Chicken 65

Ingredients (Serves 2 - 3):

Chicken                      --   1½ lb
Turmeric powder  --   ½ tsp
Kashmiri Chilly powder         --   4 tsp
Coriander powder --  3 tsp
Garam masala         --   ½ tsp
Pepper                       --    ½ tsp
Fennel powder       --   ½ tsp
Ginger                        --    1 tsp, crushed & 1 tsp finely chopped
Garlic                         --   1 tsp, crushed & 1 tsp finely chopped
Corn Flour               --   2 tbsp 
Egg                              --   1
Lemon Juice           --   1 tbsp
Salt                              --   To taste
Red Colour               --   a pinch, optional - I have never used this
Oil                                --   to deep fry
Curry leaves            --   2  - 3 sprigs
Green Chillies          --   3 – 4

Preparation:

Clean and cut the chicken into small bite size pieces.Preferably use boneless thigh pieces.

Marinate it with all the ingredients except oil, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, green chillies and curry leaves. Keep it for at least 2 - 3 hours or overnight. I always marinate it over night.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the marinated chicken pieces in batches and deep fry it on medium heat. Roughly tear 3 - 4 curry leaves and add it along with each batch. Once done, drain it and place it on kitchen towel for further draining.

The oil level should be above the chicken pieces. Make sure that the chicken is browned well, but not over cooked. Keep in mind that the colour changes / darkens slightly once it is out of the oil. If over cooked, the chicken will turn rubbery. It took around 10 - 15 minutes on the electric stove, but this can change on the type of the pan and the level of oil. Check the doneness in-between, so that you can judge your cooking time.

When the last batch is almost done, add the slit green chillies, finely chopped ginger and garlic and the remaining whole curry leaves to the pan. Let it fry along with the chicken and drain it together.

Finally give a good mix with remaining fried chicken and serve hot.