Chicken 65 Pizza
Chicken 65 is a popular Indian appetizer. Marinated in rich aromatic spices and deep fried. Once fried it is then coated in an infused oil full of chilies, curry leaves and mustard seeds.
My version though is NOT fried. I use the same ingredients to marinate but instead of deep frying to make crispy, spicy popcorn chicken bites (which occasionally are delicious), I cook it in a gravy so it's soft, succulent bites of chicken.
Chicken Marinade:
1 lb boneless chicken (sm cubes) 1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp all purpose flour (chickpea flour may be substituted for GF) 1 tsp garlic ginger paste 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper Salt/pepper to taste
1 tbsp tandoori masala 1 tsp garlic/ginger paste 1 tbsp tomato paste 1/2 a lemon squeezed A little water (like 3 to 4- tbsp)
Marinate the chicken for a couple hours then on high heat, in oil cook the chicken until tender. Add some water if needed. Once chicken is cooked through and most of the liquid has dried off, check for seasonings (salt), and you're ready to assemble your pizza.
Your chicken mixture should look something like this. Not too dry but not too liquidy.
You want to place your reduced thick gravy on a flatbread or your choice of dough, along with a tablespoon or two of pizza sauce. Then add on your chicken.
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and broil for 5 to 10 mins. Keep an eye while broiling, its quick to burn!
**If using pizza dough, you may want to bake instead of broil so the dough cooks through. Just pre-bake the pizza dough halfway, pull out, add topping and place back in oven to finish off.
Meanwhile, let's make the infused oil known as "beghar" which is traditionally added on top of Chicken 65.
What you will need:
4 to 5 curry leaves 1 tsp mustard seeds (rye) 2 tbsp oil
Heat just until it starts to bubble.
Pour the hot infused oil carefully over your cooked pizza.
You may add green chilies to fry in the infused oil if you'd like more spice.
Enjoy this East meets West dish, packed with flavors my son adores!
**Note: If you would like to make the traditional Chicken 65, just marinate chicken and deep fry. Once out, toss in infused oil (beghar) with some green chilies, a squeeze of lemon and enjoy!
