What is Chicken 65?

I’ve seen Chicken 65 listed on the menu in a number of Indian restaurants. It’s always a spicy dish. Sometimes Chicken 65 is made with whole chicken legs and thighs. Sometimes it’s made with boneless chicken. The dish is always an unnatural red color, presumably due to the spices used in the cooking process. But why the name Chicken 65?

Each time I visit a restaurant with Chicken 65 on the menu, I ask the server why they know how the dish got its name. The name sounds far more mundane than a vindaloo, gobi, masala, or even curry. The answer varies, but the common theme seems to be something along the lines of, “it’s just a name, we could call it anything.” So why not Chicken 64 or Chicken 66? Surely there’s a good story in here somewhere.

Origins of an Indian Restaurant Classic

Looking online for an answer to the question, the stories vary widely. One origin story claims the kitchen at Hotel Buhari, which is located in Chennai, India, invented the dish in 1965. Another story claims the spices soak for 65 days. A fairly unlikely version of the story suggests the chickens in the dish are 65 days old, which makes for some very tiny chickens.

My favorite version of the story is one that I read on The Hindu, which suggests that the Chicken 65 recipe first used 65 chilies for every kilogram of chicken—based on the popularity of spicy food as a way to prove one’s manhood. As the story goes, if you could handle the level of spice in the meal, you were worthy to marry.

Regardless of which version of the story you prefer, the dish generally consists of chicken marinated with yogurt seasoned with chiles, turmeric, garam masala, corriander, and cumin. If you want to make the dish at home, this recipe is one of the better ones I’ve found.

If you know a story of Chicken 65 or have some insight into the history of this Indian dish, drop me a line, I’d love to know the real story.