Spicy Schezwan Sauce is a popular sauce made with dried red chilies and flavored with garlic, vinegar! It's the perfect sauce to add to rice and noodles or serve as a condiment to snacks and appetizers.
50gramsKashmiri whole dried red chiliesaround 17 Kashmiri whole chilies, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes (these aren't the hot red chilies, these are mild)
1/3cuptoasted sesame oil80 ml, or use vegetable oil
14largegarlic cloves around 40 grams, very finely chopped
2inchginger around 30 grams, very finely chopped
1mediumwhite onion80-100 grams, finely chopped
3/4cupwater as needed
1.5tablespoonstomato paste
2tablespoonsrice vinegar or use white vinegar
1/2saltadjust to taste
1/2teaspoonblack pepperor to taste
2tablespoonssugaror to taste, add additional 1-2 teaspoons if you prefer a little sweeter sauce
2teaspoonssoy sauce
Instructions
Remove the stalk first and then soak the dried Kashmiri whole red chilies in hot water for 30 minutes. For a spicier version, you can replace half of the Kashmiri red chilies with regular dried red chilies.
After 30 minutes, the chilies would become soft and plump. Drain the water in which they were soaked using a strainer and then transfer them to a blender. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water and blend the chilies to a paste. Set this aside.
Heat sesame oil in a skillet on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and ginger. Sauté on medium heat until the raw smell goes away, around 2 minutes . You don't want to brown them, so keep that in mind.
Then add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent, again 2 to 3 minutes. Again don't brown the onion.
Add the prepared chili paste, stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often.
Now add around 3/4 cup water (I added water to the same blender in which I blended the chilies, swirled it around and then added to the pan) .Stir, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat. At this point the paste will be completely cooked and you will see oil oozing from the sides.
Add the tomato paste, vinegar, salt, black pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well. You can add extra water at this point if you prefer a thinner consistency of the sauce.
Cook for another 1 minute or so until the sauce thickens and then remove pan from heat. Let the sauce cool completely and then transfer to an air-tight container. Keep it refrigerated. Enjoy sauce as a condiment with your favorite snacks or add to rice and noodles for a quick meal.
Notes
Sauce will be much spicier if use regular dried red chilies in place of Kashmiri. I really like this version with 100% Kashmiri red chilies. If you want to make it spicier, I would suggest replacing 50% of the chilies with regular dried red chilies. Don't replace 100% else it will be very spicy.
The amount of sugar in the recipe can be adjusted to taste. If you do not prefer more sweetness to your Schezwan sauce, then you can definitely reduce the amount of sugar.
Sauce stays good in the refrigerator for few weeks in an airtight container.
It should also freeze well. To freeze, place the sauce in individual small portions using a ice cube tray (or anything similar) and freeze. You can just take out as much as needed (freezing in ice cube tray makes it easier) and use in the recipe.
Use a food processor to finely chop the ginger and garlic for this recipe. I use a hand chopped that I have and it does the job well.
You can add more water if you prefer a thinner consistency of the sauce.
You can skip the onions here if you don't eat them.
The calorie value in an approximate for 1 cup of the sauce.