I got this Chicken 65 recipe from my mom. This is recipe calls for using Pressure-cooker first, then Pan roast the chicken. Since the chicken is already partially cooked in pressure-cooker, this method not only saves time also require less oil. One thing to watch out is not to over cook in pressure-cook, one pressure realize is sufficient for farm grown chicken as they tend to very tender. There are other methods of preparing Chicken 65 as well -Airfried, deep fried, oven c etc. This recipe is more on moist side and works best as a side-dish.

 
Ingredients: 

• 2 lb - Chicken (breast pieces is better) 
• 1 tsp - Turmeric/haldi powder
• 1 cup - curds
• 2 big - Onion cut
• Salt - as per taste
• Oil

Method: 

1. Clean and cut chicken into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Squeeze out the extra water.  
2. Sprinkle salt and turmeric powder over the chicken.(optional: rub in some lemon juice or vinegar - help tenderize the chicken ).  Mix it all and keep it aside to marinate for at-least 10 - 30 minutes
3. Make masala ready:Roast all the masala dry ingredients with bit of ghee/oil on a tawa/griddle. 
4. Grind all the masala ingredients in a blender(mixie) to a fine paste along with ginger/garlic paste and tamarind pulp.
5. Place pressure cooker on medium heat, add oil or ghee. Once it is hot, add onion and cook until translucent.
6. Add ground masala, roast for 2 minutes.
7. Add marinated chicken and stir with masala. 
8. Add curd and pressure-cook Chicken pieces with masala and curds - for one whistle.  If possible, try to release pressure after a minute or two. If left, the chicken will get too tender and fall apart when trying to roast it.
9. Once pressure is released, transfer the chicken and masala on to a thick bottom tawa/griddle (preferably non-stick). Since I use pressure-pan, I continue cooking in the same pan and roast the chicken. 
10. Let it cook on medium high (covered if needed) until liquid is observed.
11. Add a spoon of ghee or oil and shallow fry/roast the chicken in the same tawa by gently turning the chicken pieces around. Note: Do not disturb the chicken too much, the pieces will break apart.
12. Once done, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to serving tray. 
13. In another seasoning pan, heat oil or ghee. Roast curry leaves, sliced garlic and lengthwise slit green chilies. pour over prepared Chicken 65.
14. Garnish with coriander leaves, cut onion and lemon wedges.

Enjoy!!

First, I tried Hariyali (Green masala) Paneer Tikka, which turned out so yummy. While I plated one serving and was taking pictures for the blog, my family had finished more than half of the paneer tikka behind me right out of the air-fryer. Did not even wait for me to serve. Claimed they were testing it to see if it was ok, LoL!  It was such a big hit in our house, I wanted to try with chicken. Again, no surprise here. for some reason everybody in the house seem to be hanging around the kitchen while I prepared it. I wonder why? Used the same masala as I had prepared a big batch of it and froze it for couple days before using it for Hariyali Chicken Tikka. 

The steps are same for  both the paneer and chicken tikka, just posting the steps anyway. Scroll down to the end of this post for more cooking options other than air-fryer.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups - Chicken - cut into cubes [ big slices or pieces with bones may be used if cooked over pan or in oven]
• 1 cup - Onion pieces - cut into big pieces
• 1 cup - Bell pepper - cut into big sq pieces - may use different color bell pepper to make it look vibrant 
• 1/2 tsp - turmeric pdr
• 2 tsp - lime juice

For Masala:

• 10 Mint leaves
• 5 stem Coriander leaves
• 10  Green chilies
• 3 - garlic cloves
• 1"- ginger piece 
• 1/2 tsp - fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp - amchur pdr
• 1/2 tsp - dhania pdr
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric pdr / Haldi 
• 1/4 tsp - Garam Masala powder
• 1/4 tsp - chat masala powder (optional)
• 1 tsp - curds
• salt as per taste.

Method: 

1. Clean and cut (skinless boneless) chicken into cubes.
2. Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl, mix-in lemon juice and turmeric powder. Keep aside for about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, take all the masala ingredient in a blender and grind them together into thick paste.
4. Now add the ground masala to the chicken pieces and mix it all. Cover and keep it aside to let it marinate for at least an hour. You may even marinate it over night by keeping it refrigerator. 
5. Optional: I marinate the onion and bell pepper pieces with bit of ground masala as well ...just 10-15 minutes before cooking..
6. If you have skewers, put the onion, bell pepper and the marinated chicken pieces. Thread bell-pepper and onion in between the chicken cubes. This will not only help infuse the flavor, it will also help prevent chicken pieces from sticking to each other. I have a air-fryer skewer-stand which is vertical. I add double layer of wide slices of onion at the end, which will end up as a bottom layer - to prevent the masala from flowing down and also to prevent chicken from sliding down and getting stuck to the stand. . 
7.  After preheating the air-fryer for about 4 minutes at 375F [190 C], place the skewer stand in the air-fryer, cook for 15 minutes in air-fryer/crisp mode.
8. After 13 minutes, rotate the skewers around (or flip over if it is horizontal skewer stand, or you have just laid the pieces on the air-fryer basket. Optional: at this point, you may coat the chicken pieces with additional left over ground masala and/or spread bit of oil or melted butter over the chicken pieces. 
9. Cook for additional 7 to 8 minutes or until done.
10. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and lemon wedge on the side. 
11. Serve hot with rice, or as an appetizer or inside a wrap.
12. Optional, sprinkle bit of chat masala powder before serving and/or serve with mint chutney on the side.

Other Cooking Options:

• GRILL: Tikka taste the best when cooked on a grill, barbecue pit. Recipe is same but rather than cooking/roasting in air-fryer, it is done on a barbecue/tandoori grill
• PAN COOKED: Tikka can be simply cooked on regular pan. Cast-iron or non-stick pan would work better. First cover and cook on medium flame until the masala is absorbed and cooked. Then increase the flame to high and roast it. This method of cooking will require more oil or butter to cook. Flip and turn the pieces over often while cooking to prevent it from sticking to the pan or getting burnt on one side. 
• BAKE: Other option is to bake. just spread the marinated chicken on a baking tray (in the tray, need space on the side for later), and cook for 10-15 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 F.  Now turn the chicken pieces over for cooking evenly on the other side too. Now spread the cut onion and bell-pepper on the sides of the baking tray. Spray oil or spread melted butter on the chicken pieces and bake for 10 more minutes ... or until cooked.  NOTE: Each oven is different, time needed to cook may differ.
• WOODEN SKEWERS: Note, while grilling/baking if you plan to use wooden skewers, To prevent it from catching fire, soak the wooden skewers in water  -for at least an hour or overnight. Wipe clean the wooden skewers before threading the chicken, onion and bell-pepper pieces. 

• 3 - Onions - thinly sliced 
• 1 inch - ginger
• 6 - garlic cloves
• 1 ½ tsp - red chili powder or as per taste
• 4 - tomatoes (or can of tomato puree)
• 2 tsp - poppy seeds
• 5 - almonds
• 5 - cashew 
• 1 inch - cinnamon piece
• 2 - cloves
•  ¼ tsp - cardamom
• 2 tbsp - dhania / coriander powder
• 1 tsp - cumin powder
• 1 tsp - Kasoori methi
• 1 ½ cup - fresh cream or can of Coconut Milk
• 3 tbsp - butter/ ghee or oil
• Salt – as per taste
• fresh coriander leave and 2 tbsp cream for garnish 

1. Soak poppy seeds in a small cup of warm water. Use very little water.
2. Soak Almond and remove the skin. A quick way is to microwave almond in water  for a minute or so and the skin will peel off easily  
3. In a wide pan, add a tablespoon butter or ghee and heat it on medium flame
4. To the butter, add crushed ginger and garlic (or paste). Fry them for a minute.
5. Add half of the cut onion. You could add all the cut onion, but I like some sautéed onion in my gravy.
6. Once the onion becomes translucent, add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and cut tomatoes and cook until tomatoes become soft. Turn off the flame and let it cool before transferring to the blender. Note: you could use ready tomato puree.
7. Now in the mixer/blender, add the sautéed mixture, soaked poppy seeds along with its soaked water,  almond and/or cashew. Make it into smooth paste.
8. Meanwhile in the same pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee
9. Next add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. Fry them for a minute
10. Now add the other half of the cut onion and sauté it until it becomes golden in color. 
11. Add the ground paste to the cooked onion. Add salt and mix.
12. Cover the mixture and let it come to a rolling boil on a medium-low flame. Stir the gravy a few times in between to make sure that it does not stick to the base of the pan and burn.
13. Mix-in slightly whipped cream or low-fat yogurt. Add water if needed, to the consistency you prefer. Cover the gravy and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
14. Turn off of flame. Crush Kasoori methi between your palms by rubbing and sprinkle over the gravy and mix it.
15. Next step is adding and cooking with the following options/variations. 
16. Garnish with fresh cut coriander leaves and cream.
17. Serve hot with chapati, naan, roti, your choice of bread or rice.

• 14oz – Firm paneer (cut into cubes) 400gms
• ½ tsp - oil, ghee or butter
• ¼ tsp - Red chilli powder or black pepper powder
• ½ tsp - herbs or savory flavor of your choice (optional). I use garlic powder, dry oregano and amchoor 
• Salt – as per taste

1. In a pan, heat the oil.
2. Add cut Paneer
3. Sprinkle salt, chilli/pepper powder and the savory flavor over the paneer cubes. 
4. Roast the Paneer cubes on low flame. 
5. Roasting paneer is optional, but I like the flavor roasted paneer brings. Besides, paneer will not crumble into smaller pieces in the gravy. Yes, it does harden a bit. If you prefer the paneer to be soft, after roasting, soak the paneer in cold water for a few minutes. Squeeze the water out and use it for the curry.
6. Now add paneer the prepared gravy and simmer for 5 minutes for the paneer to cook along with gravy and absorb the flavors.
7. Garnish and serve hot.

• 1 lb – Chicken  500gms
• ½ tsp - fennel seeds
• 3 tsp -  ghee, butter or oil
• ¼ tsp - black pepper powder
• 1 tsp - Red chili powder
• 1 tsp - turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp - ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp - lime juice
• 3 tbsp - curds / yogurt
• ¼ tsp - red food color (optional) 
• Salt – as per taste

1. To marinate chicken, cut chicken into big cubes/pieces. 
2. After cleaning, add turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder, pepper powder and lime juice, and mix it all.
3. Mix in ginger-garlic paste and red food color
4. Finally, mix in curds, cover and let the chicken marinate for an hour or so. You may also marinate overnight (in the refrigerator) to let chicken tender and absorb the flavor.
5. In a nonstick pan, heat ghee.
6. Add marinated chicken to the pan and let it cook, covered on medium low flame.
7. Every few minutes flip the chicken around to let it evenly cook. Do not let the chicken burn. 
8. Once chicken is cooked well, most of the moisture is absorbed and oil leaves the sides of the pan. [At this point, this is Spicy Chicken Roast. You may serve as an appetizer with onion slices and lemon wedges on the side]
9. Now add the prepared gravy over the chicken and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes for the chicken to cook along with gravy and absorb the flavors.
10. Garnish and serve hot.

• 4 lb – Chicken (cleaned and cut) 2kg
• 3 big – Onions – thinly sliced 
• 1 –Lemon
• 1 tsp – Turmeric/Haldi 
• 2 tbsp – Ghee  or oil
• 4 cup – Coconut Milk (2 cans)
• Salt – as per taste

• 1 cup – grated fresh coconut
• 6 – garlic cloves
• 6 – cloves
• 1½ inch – ginger
• 1 tbsp. – Coriander seeds / Dhania
• 1 tsp – Cumin seeds / Jeera
• 6-7 – Red chilies (as per taste)

1. Prepare Masala: Dry roast all the masala ingredients. With little water, grind them all into fine paste in a blender.
2. In a think bottom pan, heat ghee on medium flame. I use a wide pressure-cooker(pan).
3. Add cut onion and cook until translucent.
4. Add chicken and turmeric to the onion. Cover and cook for 5 mins or half done. 
5. Add salt and fresh lemon juice cover and let it cook until slightly tender (or one whistle)
6. Mix in the ground masala and on medium flame, let it come to a boil, 
7. Now add the coconut milk. Reduce the flame to medium low.
8. Cover and let it cook for 10 mins or until the chicken is fully cooked. Every few minutes, stir the curry to make sure that it does not get stick to the base of the pan and burn.
9. Once done garnish with fresh cut coriander leaves.
10. Serve hot with Kori Roti, Neer Dosa, Ottu Shavige, Kotte KadabuRice, idli, chapati or rice.

Ingredients: 

• Chicken - ½ Kg or 1 pound
• Curds - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric pdr -  ½ tsp
• Lemon Juice - 2 tsp  or Tamarind paste 
• Masala Pdr - 2 tsp (see below)
• Curry leaves - two stem - 15+ leaves
• Garlic - 4-5 cloves
• Ginger - 1 inch skin removed 
• Salt 
• Ghee (Clarified butter) 

For Masala: (grind all together into pdr)

• Red Long Chillies(Byadige or Kashmiri) - 10 to 15 (or according to taste)
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds - ½ tbsp
• Cinnamon - 1 inch piece  
• Cloves - 4

Method:

1. Clean the chicken and drain all the water out. Cut into 1 to 1 ½  breast pieces and leave thighs as is.
2. To the chicken, mix in salt, Turmeric pdr, lemon juice, masala pdr.
3. Now add curds (couple of drops of red food color  may be added) and mix. The bottom picture is without the food color.
4. Let the mixture marinate for at least 30 minutes or over night in the refrigerator
5. Pound ginger and garlic cloves - in a mortar or by laying the flat side of the knife over the ginger slam on top of the knife to crush it. Do the same with garlic cloves. Discard the garlic skin.
6. Heat a thick bottom pan (Kadai),  add a tablespoon of Ghee. To the warm ghee add curry leave, crushed ginger and garlic. Sauté for a minute. 
7. Add the marinated chicken mixture to the pan. Spread the chicken pieces over the pan. Cover and cook on medium heat. 
8. Every 5 minutes or so... gently stir and turn over the chicken pieces. 
9. Cook until most of the moisture is observed. 
10. Add bit more ghee (and Masala powder if more spice is needed) and gently roast the chicken over medium-low heat. Do not let it burn or stick to the pan.
11. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and (optional) roasted cashew nuts 

Summer Time is Barbeque Time! I got this recipe from one of my aunts. Thanks Ambu aunty for sharing the recipe. I should say she is a wonderful cook; everything she cooks tastes so good. Her fish fry is- to die for. You can check out my version of Fish fry, but its nothing compared to hers. Since my aunt does not have a BBQ grill, she deep fries the Kebab. It’s like Chicken pokoda (see picture below).Ingredients:. Boneless tender Chicken breast – 3 chicken breast fillets
. Fresh Ginger paste – 1 tbsp.
. Fresh Garlic paste – 1 tbsp.
. Chilli powder – 1 tbsp. (or to taste, depending on how spicy you want)
. Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp.
. Salt – to taste.
. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp.
. Kasuri Methi – 1tbsp. (I use MDH Peacock Kasoori Methi)
. Lemon Juice – from 1 lemon
. Egg white – from 1 egg.
. Corn flour – 3 tbsp. ( corn starch works well too)
. Cooking color (Red) – ¼ tsp
. Butter – ½ cup
. Fresh coriander – chopped for garnish

Method:1. Clean and cut the chicken into cubes.
2. Mix in turmeric powder, salt, and chilli powder with chicken pieces.
3. Next mix in ginger/garlic paste, lemon juice and garam masala powder. Keep it aside for 10 - 15 minutes
4. While chicken pieces are soaking in the spices, in another bowl beat in corn flour with egg white and red color. Use a metal bowl, you don’t want to end up with red color stained tupperware.
5. Add the chicken to the egg mixture. Mix it all, cover it and let it marinate for at least an hour or two. . If you are planning a party you could prepare the day before the party and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
6. Skewer the chicken piece and grill in an oven or on charcoal/electric grill for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
(Hint: Add onion wedges in between the chicken pieces so that it won’t stick together. Onion adds extra flavor too.)
7. Apply melted butter (and remaining marinade) with basting brush over chicken pieces, turn it over and cook on the other side. Repeat the step until chicken is well done.
8. Remove them from skewers & garnish with coriander leaves or cilantro.

Serve hot with lemon wedges on the side.
For Deep fried chicken Kabob.
Follow the procedure until step 5. Add a bit more corn flour/starch to make the coating thick. Deep fry the chicken pieces on medium-high flame until golden brown. Fry in small batches of 5 to 6 pieces at a time. Remove from the oil and drain the excess oil on a paper towel.

Serve hot with lemon wedges on the side.

Chicken - 3 lb (skinless & boneless) - cut into cubes.
Onion - 1 (if you want dry or 2 if you want more gravey).
Ginger paste - 2 tsp.
Garlic cloves - 6 - crushed.
Coriander (Dhania) pdr. - 1 tsp.
Cumin (geera) pdr.- 1 tsp.
Chili pdr - 2 tsp (or to taste)
Plain Yogurt - 4 tbsp
Salt to taste. Oil.
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp.
Red food coloring - few drops (optional).
Tomato paste - 1 tbsp.
Garnish - Lemon wedges & coriander leaves.


Method:
* Blend coriander pdr, cumin pdr, chili pdr, tomato paste, lemon juice, food coloring(if using) and yogurt.


* In a pan heat the oil on medium-low fire. Add chicken cubes, 1/2 salt, 1/2 chili powder and 1 tbsp lemon juice.
* Once chicken looks roasted, remove in to seperate bowl and keep it aside.

* In the same pan heat 2 tbsp oil/butter on medium fire, add onion (cut into long thin slices) (Tip: when sauting onion always add little sugar ) and stir it for 3 minutes. Add crushed ginger and garlic. After about 2 minutes add the yogurt masala mixture and cook for few more minutes. Now the add the roasted chicken cover and cook for 10 minutes.
* At this point you have two choices 1. Transfer the chicken and mixture to a owen proof dish and cook for 30 minutes(preheated) at 350 degrees in owen OR 2. Cook it in presure cooker until one whistle blows ( I usually presure cook ....so I start the whole process in a presure pan, once the chicken is added cover the lid and wait for the whistle).
*Garnish with Lemon wedges & coriander leaves.