"High Octane" Schezwan sauce

[thelufias]

Very true..... 

[Jherrith]

Indeed methinks that mine shall as well .... but hey what is a little pain in the pursuit of fine dining

[thelufias]

Now this is something I may use.....though my inards will protest violently   

[Jherrith]

Schezwan sauce recipe

Ingredients

    Dry red chili: 15
    Garlic pods: 15
    Grated ginger: 2 tbsp
    Fine chopped celery: 2 tbsp
    Fine chopped onions: ½ cup
    Sugar: 1½ tsp
    Salt: 1½ tsp
    Vinegar: 3 tsp
    Soya sauce: 2 tbsp
    Schezwan peppers crushed: ½ tsp
    Water : ¾ cup + 3 tbsp for grinding
    Oil: 3-4 tbsp
    Food color (optional)

Instructions

    Take out the stems of red chilies.
    Deseed half of the chilies and keep half with seeds that.
    Soak red chilies in hot water for an hour.
    In a meanwhile heat oil (3-4 tbsp.) in wok or karahi.
    Add garlic pods to it and fry them till they are golden brown.
    Sauté them continuously for even cooking.
    Once garlic pods are light golden brown take them out in a bowl and let them cool down.
    After one hour drain the water from red chilies.
    Put them in a mixer jar along with garlic and add very little water to a paste.
    Now again heat the same oil and add fine chopped onions to it.
    Sauté till onions are little soft. Now add fine chopped ginger, celery and cook till they lose oil.
    Now add ground chili paste. Sauté and cook till it loses oil again.
    Now add sugar, salt, Sichuan pepper, soya sauce and mix everything.
    Add vinegar and ¾ cup of water boil everything for a minute or till you see it is losing oil.
    Switch off the heat and let it cool down.
    Schezwan sauce is ready. You can store it in air tight container in fridge for multiple weeks.

Notes
1. I de seeded half of the chilies as I do not want sauce to be super spicy.
2. While cooking it is very important that oil sauce should loose oil in every step. That will give sauce deep flavors and preserve the sauce for long time.
3. If you want vibrant red color of sauce you can add food coloring while grinding the sauce.
4. You can skip celery and schezwan peppers if you do not have.
5. You can add more or less of vinegar and soy sauce according to your taste.
6. You can also add some tomato ketchup while cooking the sauce.
7. Once sauce cools down, transfer it in a glass bottle and keep it in the fridge.
8. Always use clean and dry soon to take out the sauce.