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.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 2 cups
  • Category: Sides
  • Cuisine: Indo-Chinese

Ingredients

  • 50 grams Kashmiri whole dried red chilies (around 17 Kashmiri whole chilies, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes (these aren't the hot red chilies, these are mild))
  • 1/3 cup toasted sesame oil (80 ml, or use vegetable oil)
  • 14 large garlic cloves (around 40 grams, very finely chopped)
  • 2 inch ginger (around 30 grams, very finely chopped)
  • 1 medium white onion (80-100 grams, finely chopped)
  • 3/4 cup water (as needed)
  • 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or use white vinegar)
  • 1/2 salt (adjust to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste, add additional 1-2 teaspoons if you prefer a little sweeter sauce)
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce

Method

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Then add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent, again 2 to 3 minutes. Again don't brown the onion.
  5. Add the prepared chili paste, stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.