Published: | Modified: by Hina Gujral
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If you are looking for a delicious finger-licking sauce to accompany crispy snacks, this Thai sweet chilli sauce recipe is worth bookmarking. It is vegan, gluten-free, and lasts in the fridge for a month.
PinAbout Sweet Chilli Sauce
This chilli sauce recipe is adapted from the Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce. Also known as Nam Chim Kai.
I have used the best locally available ingredients to make a vegan and vegetarian version of the authentic sauce recipe.
My sweet chilli sauce is the amalgamation of all tantalizing flavours – spicy, sweet, and garlicky. It has the hotness of red chillies, the sweetness of sugar, the flavour of garlic, and the sourness of vinegar.
It is a versatile sauce that we can’t have enough. You can marinate the chicken for an Asian grill, add it to a vegetarian stir fry, or serve it as a dipping sauce for Asian friedsnacks and dumplings.
More Reasons To LOVE This Chilli Sauce
- gluten-free sauce
- vegan and vegetarian
- versatile and multi-purpose
- easy to store for a month
- meal-prep and freezer friendly
PinIngredients Required
Red Chillies: The red chillies give a bright red colour and spicy taste to the sauce. They are the key ingredient in this sauce recipe. You can use fresh red chillies, dry red chillies, or chilli flakes.
Garlic: The addition of garlic makes the sauce so delectable. Hence, do not restrict yourself to one or two cloves.
Sugar: To cut down the heat of red chillies and to give a sweet lingering taste, sugar is added to this sauce. You can use fine brown sugar or powdered jaggery instead of white sugar.
White Vinegar: The vinegar gives the sauce an acidic or slightly tart taste. The acidic taste balances the spicy and sweet flavour. The vinegar also acts as a preservative to increase the shelf life of the sauce.
Corn Starch: A starch or thickening agent gives the sauce perfect consistency.
Salt, Water
How To Make
This sweet chilli sauceis super simple to make at home.
- All you have to do is throw the ingredients into a blender. Pulse.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and add a thickening agent.
- Allow cooling. And voila, the most luscious sauce is ready!
It is a gratifying process from the start to the delicious finish. And you can rest easy knowing exactly what goes into this sauce versus some of the mystery, unhealthy ingredients on the labels of store-bought ones.
Watch Chilli Sauce Video
Serving Suggestion
Next time you plan chicken cheese balls, fried cutlets, or spring rolls, bring out the bottle of homemadesweet chilli sauce.
Some more snacks that pair well with chilli sauce:
Tibetan Momo
chicken satay
Egg Roll/Fried Snacks
Dumplings or Potstickers
Crispy Fried Squids or Calamari
PinFAQs Related To Sweet Chilli Sauce
Which type of chillies should I use?
Fresh Red Chilies or dried red chillies work best for this sauce. Being in the Indian sub-continent, I have used dried red chillies as they are easily available. To cut down the heat of fresh red chillies, discard the seeds and the vein. Use only the outer layer of the chilli.
Can I use rice vinegar?
The authentic Thai Chilli Sauce has rice vinegar. If you like the taste and the aroma, use rice vinegar in the same quantity as white vinegar. Avoid using wine vinegar to make this sauce.
Can I skip using a thickening agent?
Yes, you can skip adding a thickening agent. But then the consistency of the chilli sauce will not be luscious. It will be runny and thin.
How long can I store this sauce?
You can store it for 1 month in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Use a clean and dry spoon to scoop out the sauce. However, do not leave it at room temperature, especially in hot and humid climates, for more than 2 – 3 hours.
More Dip Recipes
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Roasted Eggplant Dip
Fresh Tomato Salsa
Creamy Corn Dip
Spicy Mango Dip
Beetroot Hummus
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Pin
Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe
If you are looking for a delicious sauce to accompany crispy Asian snacks then this sweet chilli sauce recipe is worth bookmarking. Learn how to make best chilli sauce at home in a few simple steps.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 250 gram
Calories: 586kcal
Author: Hina Gujral
Blender
Saucepan
Ingredients
- 10 – 12 dry red chili (discard seeds)
- ¼ Cup garlic cloves
- ½ Cup granulated white sugar
- ½ Cup white vinegar
- 3 Cup water
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Once the water starts bubbling, turn off the heat. Add the dry red chilies. Soak them in hot water. Cover the pan with a lid. Dehydrate the dry chilies for 5 – 10 minutes.
Next, transfer the soaked red chilies to a blender. Add garlic, salt, vinegar, sugar, and 1 cup of water. Blend the ingredients to a smooth sauce.
Transfer the sauce to a pan. Place the pan over the stovetop. Turn on the heat. Reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer so that the flavors infuse together.
Now mix corn starch with a tablespoon or so of water to make a slurry. Add corn starch slurry to the sauce and mix nicely to avoid any lump formation.
The sauce will start thickening. Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat. Let it cool down completely at room temperature.
Transfer Sweet Chili Sauce to a container for storing.
Serve sweet chilli sauce as a dipping sauce with any fried snack or dumplings.
Recipe Notes:
- You canuse fresh red chilies, dry red chilies, or the chili flakes to make this sauce. To cut down the heat of fresh red chilies discard the seeds and the vein. Use only the outer layer of the chili.
- You can use fine brown sugar, or powdered jaggery in place of white sugar.
- The vinegar acts as a preservative to increase the shelf life of the sauce. Avoid using wine vinegar to make this sauce.
- You can skip adding a thickening agent. But then the consistency of the chili sauce will not be luscious. It will be runny and thin.
- You can store it for 1 month in the refrigerator in an airtight container. However, do not leave it at room temperature especially in hot and humid climates for more than 2 – 3 hours.
Nutrition
Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 139g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 898mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 113g | Vitamin A: 2252IU | Vitamin C: 351mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 3mg
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Reader Interactions
Comments
tinku shaji says
Wonderful Sauce, Bookmarked
Reply
Praveen Kumar says
This is a must have for thai fried rice 🙂 Love the flavours.
Reply
Indrani says
Hot spicy and tempting.
Reply
Aparna Anurag says
hmmmmmmm one of my fav sauce:-)
http://eyeswantstosee.blogspot.com/
http://hindustanisakhisaheli.blogspot.com/Reply
kebhari says
delicious and yummy sauce.
Reply
Ekta khetan says
Awesome…must try!
Reply
coffeeandzest says
wow! your photos are amazing. SO tempting.
Reply
Nidhi says
It’s very tempting. ..
Reply
Taz says
I’d really love to try this!!! Is it possible I can use Bird’s eye chilli peppers instead of dry ones? Thanks!
Reply
Hina Gujral says
With Bird’s eye chili, I think it will be too hot. If you like it spicy then go ahead but then reduce the number of chilies in the recipe to half.
Reply
Shruthi says
Wow! this is going to be so useful for all our weekend snacks 🙂
Reply
Hina Gujral says
So happy that you like it!
Reply
Hema Bhakuni says
Definitely trying over the weekend.
Reply
Hina Gujral says
Great! Looking forward to your feedback.
Reply
