Schezwan chicken gravy
A tasty spicy Indo-Chinese recipe, that is quick and easy to make and so delicious along side noodles and/or fried rice
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot with lid
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken breast cut into thin strips
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- 2 tbsp garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger chopped
- 2 fresh green chilles optional
- 3 tbsp schezwan sauce
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
For the schezwan sauce
- 1 cup dried red chilies soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- ¼ cup garlic finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger finely chopped
- 2 tbsp celery or coriander stalks finely chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp salt
- ¼ cup oil
Instructions
To make the schezwan sauce
- Drain the chilies and add them to a blender jar (without their stalks). Blend to a smooth paste using as little water as possible. Keep it aside
- Heat the oil in a cooking pot, and add in the garlic and ginger. Sauteé over medium flame until fragrant and then add the celery (or coriander stalks), cook for couple minutes
- Then add in the chilli paste, stir well to mix and cook until oil leaves the sides of the pan. Add the salt, pepper and vinegar, mix well and remove in a bowl
To make the schezwan chicken
- Apply some salt and pepper to the diced chicken and leave it for 15 minutes. Heat some oil in a pan and add the chicken, sear it over high flame for 3-4 minutes, remove and set aside
- Heat the oil, add the ginger and garlic. Fry until fragrant and add the diced onion and bell peppers and sauteé for a couple minutes on high flame
- Add the mushrooms, the seared chicken pieces and cook for five more minutes
- Add all the three sauces, the chillies and mix well. Add half a cup of water and cook and check for seasoning now*, adjust if needed. Make a slurry of the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water at room temperature
- When the chicken is completely cooked and the sauce and once it starts simmering, pour in the cornstarch slurry. Mix well and once the gravy thickens, remove from flame
- Garnish with chopped spring onion greens and serve your schezwan chicken gravy, hot with rice or noodles. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can store the schezwan sauce bottled up for about a month. Make sure to top the sauce up with it's oil so that it doesn't spoil
- For the schezwan sauce you could use a mix of dried chilies that gives colour as well as heat
- *Be mindful of adding salt since all sauces as well as the chicken have salt in them
- You may add some sugar, before you add the cornstarch, to balance the spice levels
- g - grams
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres