Chicken 65

Ingredients

• 600 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp thick yoghurt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 sprigs curry leaves
• 4 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1 egg white
• oil, for deep frying
• 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 3 green chillies, slit
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, for the tempering
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp yoghurt, for the tempering
• 1 tsp lemon juice, for the tempering

Before you cook

• Cut the chicken thigh into even 3 cm pieces so they fry at the same rate.
• Chop two sprigs of curry leaves finely and leave the other two whole.
• Mix the chicken with the ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and the chopped curry leaves, then chill it for 1 hour.

Steps

1. Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge and stir in the cornflour, rice flour and egg white until every piece wears a thin sticky coat.
2. Heat about 5 cm of oil in a deep pan to 180C; a scrap of the coating should rise and sizzle immediately.
3. Lower in a third of the chicken, spacing the pieces apart, and fry undisturbed for two minutes.
4. Turn the pieces and fry for three minutes more, until deep red-brown and firm.
5. Lift the chicken onto a rack and fry the remaining batches the same way.
6. Drop the whole curry leaves and slit green chillies into the hot oil for ten seconds, until crisp, then lift them out.
7. Pour all but two tablespoons of the oil out of a wide pan and set it over medium heat.
8. Add the chopped garlic and fry for thirty seconds, until it smells sweet.
9. Stir in the chilli powder, sugar, yoghurt and lemon juice and cook for one minute, until it thickens into a glossy paste.
10. Tip in the fried chicken and toss for one minute, until every piece is coated in red masala.
11. Scatter over the fried curry leaves and chillies and serve at once with lemon wedges and raw onion.