Schezwan sauce…must condiment for Indo-Chinese recipes.
Schezwan sauce..a must condiment for many lip smacking Indo-Chinese recipes. It is hot sweet , garlicky, sour ,spicy from different peppers, vibrant red and so versatile. Just a little bit of the sauce and elevated the taste to a great extent.
If you are wondering What does Indo-Chinese mean ?..
Indo Chinese are fusion recipes wherein Chinese favourite recipes are adapted and given a spicy, hot, masala makeover to suit Indian palate. E.G. recipes like momos, manchurian, fried rice, noodles, fried chicken, etc etc
Why do we need Schezwan sauce?
Chinese recipes have minimal spice and which is satisfied with addition of whole peppers, Sichuan pepper or crushed black pepper. Whereas we like it more spicy in Indian cuisine. Thats why the Schezwan sauce is needed which is perfect balance of cooked dry chillies with vinegar, garlic, sugar etc. It is cooked well so the chillies don’t give trouble and the addition of rest of the ingredients balances all the tastes and flavours as well help it preserve for long.
What are popular recipes made using Schezwan sauce?
- Schezwan fried rice
- Schezwan noodles
- Schezwan manchurian
- Schezwan momos
- triple Schezwan fried rice
- Schezwan chicken /paneer/ vegetables
OR
simply use as
- Spread for parathas/ wraps/ sandwiches
- Stir fries
- dipping sauce …mix with another sauce like Mayonnaise, ketchup or simply hung curd etc to make a perfect dip for pakodas, chips, fries, vegetable juliennes..
My recent favourite using this miracle sauce is
- Schezwan spring dosa...You wont believe how easy and healthy it is! You can find the recipe here.
- Schezwan pin wheels.. Spread sauce on tortillas or rotis and some shredded vegetables of choice like carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumber, red cabbage add cheese if you like….roll and cut into small pinwheels!
How long can you store it?
I usually make a big batch, store in air tight glass jar .Further refrigerate, use as & when needed. It gets used up within a month so I don’t have any experiences of storing it further. For for a month I can guarantee you it stays fresh if cooked and stored well.
to watch video click here:
1.Soak assorted chillies in water for 4-5 hours minimum. Make fine paste with enough water.
Steps to make:
2. Prepare all ingredients to make the cooking easier.
3. Later, heat oil in pan, add in cinnamon. First add ginger .Saute for a while and then celery, garlic.
4. When the above mixture gets cooked to a pink colour consistency, add in chilli paste. Saute and cook for 3-4 minutes.Add salt and sugar. Pour water to cook further.
5. Add soy sauce, black pepper/ sichuan pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.
6. After 2 minutes of cooking, desired thick consistency is achieved. Oil starts floating on top of sauce which is good indication that sauce is ready.
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
cup
|
- 1 cup medium spicy dry chillies (around 15-20) ~100 gms
- 1/2 cup garlic --minced or finely chopped. 15-20 big garlic pods~100gms
- 1/2 cup sesame oil (or any other oil lie vegetable or mild olive oil)~150ml
- 1/4 cup ginger-chopped finely (2 inch piece)
- 1/4 cup celery finely chopped (5 inch stick- optional)
- 3 Tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
- 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 3-4 Sichuan peppers (I've used 1 tsp fresh black pepper powder instead)
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 inch cinnamon piece
- 1 Tbsp salt
Ingredients
|
|
- 1. Mince ginger garlic and celery or finely chop them. 2. Remove seeds and any stems of chillies and soak them for at least half an hour in warm water. 3. After chillies are soaked make a fine paste.
- Start by heating the oil in a wide pan. As the oil reaches smoking hot point, add in cinnamon and ginger. Saute for a while and add garlic and celery. Keep mixing and stirring as the ginger garlic sticks to pan.
- As ginger garlic paste turns light pink, add in chillies paste.Mix well and keep stirring for next 3-4 minutes.
- Add in salt and sugar.Mix well well and pour in 2 cups of water. Mix and cover pan with a lid.Keep flame on low-medium and let it cook.
- After 5 minutes, add in soy sauce ,black pepper and vinegar.
- Cook further for 2 minutes and the sauce should be ready. Keep the consistency little liquid because as the sauce cools down, it becomes thicker.
- When sauce cools down to room temperature, transfer it to a jar. Store in refrigerator ,stays fresh for upto one month.
- Celery gives a nice flavour to Schezwan sauce. But if you don't have any, simply add some stocks of watery vegetables . e.g. coriander stems.
- If you like extra tartness, add some tomato puree of tomato ketchup while cooking sauce.
- Kashmiri chillies can be used for bright red colour and they are very mild.
Subscribe
to get latest recipe updates!
