“Chicken 65 a typically Bangalorean dish,” restaurateurs of that city will tell you with supreme conviction, “called so because you ought to be able to cut the chicken into 65 pieces.” Hyderabadis, on the other hand, believe that Chicken 65 was born in their city. “65 is the number of spices that used to be used in the making of this dish.”
However, according to Sultan Mohideen, Executive Chef, ITC Hotel Maurya Sheraton and Towers, Chicken 65 comes from the Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu, stronghold of the Chettiar community. Chef Mohideen who has researched the food of this region for a thesis, says that the Chettiars, a wealthy community of merchants who used to travel to Sri Lanka and Singapore on business, hit upon the idea of marinating a chicken with their trademark spices. Fiery red chillies, black pepper, crushed garlic, salt and lime juice were rubbed into a chicken and left to dry. The uncooked chicken could last 65 days—approximately as long as one trip took, before the days of air travel. All that had to be done was to fry the chicken, and eat it on the spot. Out of approximately 65 different theories, this one does have the ring of truth.