For those of us who were brought up in India, Indo-Chinese cuisine is nothing new. We all love it and have grown up eating it. This cuisine was born as a result of Chinese immigrants adopting the Indian spices in their cooking. The results were phenomenal and are now widely enjoyed throughout India.
Sichuan is a province in China known for its spicy food! Schezwan represents the spicier version of Indo-Chinese cuisine, and I am guessing that the use of “schezwan” sauces for cooking in India is a result of the influence of immigrants from this province. Schezwan sauce is an easy recipe to make and is packed with flavor. It can be used to make schezwan fried rice, schezwan noodles, schezwan chicken, or simply served as a dip. This fiery paste has sweet, spicy, salty and tangy notes which together are pure umami.
What you will need:
| Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Black Pepper | 1 teaspoon |
| Garlic | 100 grams |
| Ginger | 40 grams |
| Jaggery | 50 grams |
| Kashmiri Chili Powder | 1 teaspoon |
| Kashmiri Red Chilies | 250 grams |
| Oil | 1/4 cup |
| Salt | 1 3/4 teaspoon |
| Shallots | 150 grams |
| Soya Sauce | 1/8 cup |
| Sugar | 90 grams |
| Vinegar | 1/4 cup |
How to make it:
- If you want the sauce to be less spicy, deseed the chilies. Soak the red chilies in hot water for 15 minutes.
- Squeeze out the water from the chilies. Add them to a food processor.
- Add shallots, garlic, ginger to the food processor as well.
- Blend into a coarse paste. If you prefer a fine paste, just grind all of the above ingredients in a mixer.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add the paste and saute for 10 minutes on a medium flame, stirring frequently.
- Add soya sauce, vinegar, jaggery, salt and pepper.
- Mix well and cook until the oil begins to separate from the paste.
- Cool it completely to room temperature.
- Store in an air tight container and use as needed for Indo- Chinese recipes or as a dip.
- If stored well, can last up to 4 months in a refrigerator.