Long before the world declares its undying love for Sriracha, the rooster sauce from California, the quiet dingy lanes in the tanneries of erstwhile Calcutta was silently cooking up pot of hot garlic sauce which in due course of time has transformed the regular chicken, prawns and pork dishes to taste extraordinaire. Though the heat was too much for the sweet loving babus of Kolkata but none the less it was able to make a lasting impression on the culinary trails of Indo Chinese cuisine.
Much like California gold rush, eighties saw the rise of US’s most loved hot sauce till date – the Sriracha that acquired a cult status among the barbecue loving nation. Some even emphasised that it is the best thing ever happened after the sliced bread. Not many moons ago I too was Sriracha addict, for every reason or every occasion I had served Sriracha with almost everything, even that means smearing it on plain toasted bread. It is futile and difficult to argue with Sriracha addicts, the sauce that soon engulfed the food scenario of a nation and invent so many dishes.
But when you are deprived of your daily dose of Sriracha, the alternatives arises. It was extremely difficult to give up the Sriracha addiction but the new homemade version of hot garlic sauce charmed us in more than one ways. 
More than 200 years ago when the first Chinese settlers migrated to the eastern shores of Hooghly river, make Achipur their home, they might not have realised it then that in the coming century, this single migration step is going to revolutionize the Indian culinary scene. The very first birth place of Indo-Chinese cuisine. Later from the shores of Hooghly the Chinese settlers migrated to the city of Calcutta, small settlements of Chinese shoemakers, carpenters, dentist began to pop up in Bentick street, Burrabazar’s Aphing chowrasta (opium junction) and later a proper China Town, country’s first of its kind began to develop in Tiretta Bazaar. Decades later, on the eastern fringes of the city another China Town evolves – Tangra, to which every Kolkattan makes a yearly or monthly if you say so pilgrimage to chow on the hakka, manchurians, steam buns and hot garlic pork.
While Sriracha has its roots set deep in the coastal city of Si Racha in Thailand, this Indo-Chinese version of hot garlic sauce could be India’s answer to the global hot sauce quest. The type of chillies used in the sauce made all the difference. Whether you use dried Chinese hot red chile peppers or use fresh Thai bird-eye chillies, the sauce will remain fiery hot. So use the chilies as per your tolerance level, if it has gone beyond your limit then cool it down with white vinegar. Now like me if you too had a big bottle of fish sauce stocked in your pantry for months, then use it here. Else you can skip this. And last but not least, use peanut or sesame oil for the extra flavor.
Your very own hot garlic sauce is ready, and now you can make Sriracha feel jealous.
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Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes about 1 cup 1x
- Diet: Pescatarian, Omnivore, Gluten-Free
Description
Spice up your life with this easy chili garlic sauce. Perfect for dipping, drizzling, or adding a fiery kick to your favorite dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 heads Garlic
- 20-25 Red Chilli pepper
- 2 Shallots
- 2-3 tbsp White Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2-3 tbsp Peanut or sesame oil
- Salt
- 1 tsp Fish sauce
Instructions
- Peel the garlic cloves and lightly roast them on a griddle with a few drops of oil.
- If using fresh Thai bird eye chilies, chop them.
- If using dried Chinese red chilies, deseed them and soak in water until tender.
- In a blender, blend the garlic, red chilies, salt, sugar, and vinegar into a fine paste.
- Mince the shallots.
- Lightly heat oil and gently sauté the shallots until raw.
- Turn off the heat and add the chili garlic paste; blend well.
- Check and adjust salt and sugar.
- Add fish sauce, if using.
- Blend well and let stand for at least two hours to allow flavors to mingle.
Notes
- For a smoother sauce, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve after blending.
- Adjust the amount of chili peppers to control the spice level; start with fewer if you’re sensitive to heat.
- Store the sauce in a sterilized jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks; it will deepen in flavor over time.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tbsp
- Calories: 100
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 200
- Fat: 8
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 7
- Carbohydrates: 10
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 2
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of chilies work best for a homemade chili garlic sauce?
Fresno or red jalapeño chilies are a practical choice since they’re widely available and give a bright, medium heat. For more fire, add a few dried Thai chilies to the blend.
How long does homemade chili garlic sauce keep in the fridge?
Stored in a clean jar with a tight lid, it keeps for up to two weeks refrigerated. The garlic flavor mellows after a day or two, which many people prefer.
Do I need to remove the seeds before blending?
Leaving the seeds in makes the sauce noticeably hotter. If you want moderate heat, remove most of the seeds before processing the chilies.
Hi Frances, thank you so much for trying this out and loving it. This is usually a thick sauce, but you can thin it down with little more oil, the one you have used in the recipe. If you use water, to thin down the sauce, you have to adjust the other seasonings. Hope this helps.
Regards, Sukanya
`Hi there,
Thank you for your lovely recipe. I made this sauce yesterday using our own chillies, it turned out lovely and its very fiery. It is also quite thick, Is there anything I can I add to thin it out slightly without spoiling the sauce?
Kind regards,
Frances
Why deseed dried chilli?
Why can’t seeds stay in the dried ones but are ok to stay in the fresh?
When I use fresh the seeds stay in?
Just wondering.
Otherwise an amazing awesome sambal!!!!
Lightly roast the peeled garlic cloves with a bit of oil….How is this done? What temp and for how long? Recipe looks fantastic, can’t wait to try it .
I tried it but it left me fried or burnt the garlic was frued it wasnt like that stinky but fried what should i do now?
In this recipe it says 2 heads of garlic. Do you mean 2 cloves or 2 bulbs?
Thank you.
Two heads of garlic means two bulbs of garlic. Not two cloves of garlic. Thanks for trying it out. Please do share your feedbacks.
Why do you have to remove the seeds if using Chinese dried red chili peppers? It is a hotness issue or are they not very edilble? I have never worked with dried peppers before and need tips to make low-sodium sauces/pastes…
Hi Matt, primarily the main reason to remove the seeds are because of hotness. If you are tolerant to the hot sauces you can skip that part. Second, since it is wet mixture, so while grinding, the sauce texture would be very coarse and also the half crushed seeds in every bite would not be too good to taste.
Hope it helps
SInce this sauce contains vinegar it can be stored in refrigerator upto one month.
Can I substitute chilli flakes for dried chillies?
Hi Kelly,
Chilli flakes can be substituted but I personally do not favour it as most of the commercial chilli flakes brands has more seeds in it. The kind of texture you need for this sauce is possible by use of dried chillies only.
Thank you for tue recipe!
How long will this keep for?
Hi Karen, sesame flavor will be prominent but not overpowering. Else peanut oil will be good too. You can also use regular oil too. But peanut and sesame lends distinct flavor to the sauce
Sesame oil has a very distinct flavor…I love it, but does it stand out as the major flavor?
I have to eat a low salt diet. I cannot find a ready made chili garlic sauce that does not have salt in it so I need to make my own. Could I make this recipe without salt? Also, I’m not sure that I can find the chilis you mention. Are there other chilis I can use?
Hi Neha, thank you for writing to me. Yes, you can adjust the salt as per your requirements. The chillies that I have used are bird eye, but you can make it with regular Indian dried chillies, kashmiri or degi to get a rich color. You need to de-seed them before using.
This sauce contains vinegar, so it can be stored in the fridge for up to a month. I usually make small amount of it.
Hope it helps
I am also wondering how long this sauce will keep in the fridge?
How long will this chili last?Thanks