Dry Red Chilly Garlic Sauce

The themes in certain events surely makes our brain work . The spices ( Curry leaves and Dry red chillies )mentioned in Julie's blog erivumpuliyumm  left me wondering . All I kept thinking was Curry leaves chutney or Red chilly garlic chutney. But then I remembered red chilly garlic sauce which I usually make with fresh red chillies . I thought of making the same dish but substituted the fresh chillies by the dried ones and believe me the taste is so similar that now I need not wait for fresh chillies to appear in the market nor do I need to use the preservative to make the sauce stay whole year round. I can now make the chilly garlic sauce at my own leisure.



Ingredients :

10 to 15 .................Dry Byedgi Chillies
10 to 15 ................Dry Kashmiri Chillies
10 to 12 .................garlic flakes
1tbsp.......................ginger (chopped)
1 .........................onion (chopped)
1........................tomato (chopped)
2 tbsp ....................cornflour
salt
sugar

Method :


Soak both the chillies in warm water for 2 to 3 hours.

                               Add Garlic, onion and tomatoes to it and cook for 10 to15 minutes.









When cool grind the mixture.
If you want you can strain the mixture, but I don't strain because the
 pulp adds to the volume of the sauce.








Now take a heavy bottom vessel and cook the ground mixture till it
 thickens a bit.
Add salt and sugar as needed.
In the end dissolve cornflour in 3 to 4 tbsp water and add it to the
 mixture.
Let it thicken further for some time.





This sauce stays in refridgerator for a month without the addition of any preservative.
If you want it to stay longer omit the use of cornflour, thicken it more and add 1 tsp sodium benzoate powder dissolved in 1 tbsp water.
You get sodium benzoate at any chemical or medical store.

This entry is off to Julie's' event  herbs & spices hosted by Poonam of Spicy Aroma