KFC sells a whopping 120 million chicken pieces in buckets alone every month in India, adding approximately Rs 500 crore to the piggy bank from sales of this classic that has been the most loved product  of this fast-food multinational for the last 70 years. I do not think there have to be more reasons to call India the Republic of Chicken!!

Earlier this week, KFC celebrated 70 successful years of its signature product, the Original Chicken Bucket, which was cooked up by Col. Sanders, the man whose face is a part of KFC’s brand identity, back in the 1930s in a small town named Corbin in Kentucky, USA.

The original recipe with 11 herbs and spices; whose identities are a company secret is still used by KFC. But if you’ve been sniffing for ways to replicate the Original Chicken recipe, you will be in a state of disappointment because it is tucked away safely in a vault at the KFC headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

KFC celebrated the success of the Original Chicken at KFC’s Scindia House store, where the chief guest was Sharman Joshi, who has become a favourite following the success of 3 Idiots.

Harland Sanders, the sprightly colonel who started this business during the Great Depression (1929-33) perfected this recipe at his restaurant. He also stumbled upon the pressure cooker and used it to his advantage.

Pressure cooking reduced the time it took a chicken leg to be ready for eating from 30 minutes to less than 10. KFC made its Indian foray in 2006, and following in the footsteps of other fast-food chains, it has Indianised in a significant way.

Besides the Original Chicken, KFC has rolled out new products to titillate Indian taste buds from Veggie Feast burgers to the Channa Snacker and non- vegetarian thali, where the chicken comes in makhni gravy.

An all-American classic has got an Indian makeover, as KFC steams ahead with its plan to step up its national presence in India from 74 stores at present to 500 by 2015.