Dry Schezwan Chilli Potato
Roasted baby potatoes are oven-cooked until they are beautiful and crispy and then tossed with fresh stir-fry vegetables and a special schezwan chilli sauce. This recipe expertly combines so many flavours in one. It is spicy and hot, tangy and sweet – just what you would want from an Indo-Chinese classic. I say spicy but it isn’t eye wateringly spicy – more of a gentle heat that builds as you eat! This recipe has some similarities to the flavours in honey chilli potatoes buy we have not added honey but used our own chilli and sultana sauce. Serve as it is or with rice noodles or fried rice, this Burnt Garlic and Tofu Rice is a great option.
Why you should make this recipe:
Crowd-pleaser – Indo-Chinese recipes are ALWAYS on trend and loved by everyone! Plant-based – all the ingredients are in this recipe is suitable for vegans, vegetarians and can be made for gluten-free diet too (check the ingredients below) Includes fresh vegetables – vegetables are low in calories and high in nutrients. Fresh vegetables are full of essentials vitamins and minerals that are important for our body. Great as a starter – kick off your meal in style with this lip-smacking dish, it will sure to impress your guests. Great for a filling lunch – this recipe has carb and vegetables, pack in your lunch-box to look forward to your midday meal. Easy to scale up or down – you can easily scale up or down this recipe and it doesn’t change the cooking time. Just make sure the equipment you use to hold the double the ingredients.
Indo-Chinese Thali / Desi Chinese Thali
Indo-Chinese or Chinese Indian food is a fusion cuisine combining both Indian and Chinese ingredients and flavours. The cuisine is thought to have originated when Chinese people immigrated to Calcutta over 250 years ago. The recipes have become famous because of the boom of Indian street food. Just a small scroll though Instagram, you can find thousands of videos of mouthawatering Indo-chinese street food being prepared in front of your eyes. The recipes tend to use Indian spices mixed with Chinese sauces. Restaurants and street food stalls sell Indo-Chinese Thali where a combination of of these dishes are served alongside each other. These are some of my favourite Indo-Chinese recipes: Chilli Paneer – our recipe is similar to a British Indian restaurant called Sakonis on Ealing road Wembley. I first tried their chilli paneer when I was about 5/6 years old and since then this is the only version I’ll ever eat. Soya Vegetable Manchurian – lower in fat than traditional manchurian (these balls are not deep-fried) yet it is so flavourful and delicious. Masala Mogo – our readers all time top favourite post since being posted in 2012. Vegetable Spring Rolls – again these are baked and not deep-fried, one more good reason to make them. Air fryer Gobi Manchurian – its’s healthy, vegan and gluten-free and packed with flavours.
Ingredients for Crispy Schezwan Potatoes
See the recipe card below for exact measurements, method, servings and nutritional information. Here is a list of what you will need to make schezwan potatoes, I have included substitutions where possible
For the potatoes:
Potatoes – we need potatoes that hold their shape well after cooking either new potatoes or salad potatoes. You can use salad potatoes like Anya or Charlotte which are also small and have a dense, waxy texture. New potatoes are an option as well, as they too are small and waxy. My favourite new ptoatoes are Jersey Royals which are in season in May. They go wonderfully in our Jersey Royal Potato Butter Masala. You can either peel off the skin off the potatoes or keep it if you wish. Keeping the skin on retains some of the fibre and nutrients. Semolina – (optional) semolina helps with adding extra crunch when roasting the potatoes. Thanks to Nigella, Mary Berry and other great British culinary giants, this technique is used in many kitchens particularly when making crunchy roast potatoes. Fine or coarse semolina works fine. For gluten-free, use fine cornmeal as a replacement.
For the sauce
Stir-fry vegetables – adding vegetables to the recipe adds dimension and extra flavour and texture. The beauty of this dish is that you can add whichever stir-fry vegetables you like. I have used store-bought stir-fry vegetables for ease and to reduce prep time. This includes a medley of cabbage, red peppers and red onion. Schezwan sauce – we have a jar of homemade schezwan sauce ready in the fridge for when Indo-Chinese cravings hit. We also use this sauce for our Schezwan Paneer wraps and Chilli Mogo recipes. This Indian style Schezwan sauce uses dried red chillies and/or Sichuan pepper. Chilli and Sultana Sauce – we used our homemade chilli and sultana sauce but alternatively you can use shop-bought thai sweet chilli sauce which has a similar flavour. Soy sauce – use either light or dark soy sauce. Use tamari if gluten-free. Ginger and garlic – we have used fresh ginger and garlic for the best flavour but you can use jar/frozen. You could try using ginger and garlic powder but you will not get the same freshness. Spring Onion – fresh spring onion is just so good with Indo-Chinese food so don’t skip it! Use it as a garnish once the dish is ready to extract the best flavour and texture of the spring onion. Oil – you will need oil both to coat the potatoes when roasting and also when cooking the vegetables. If possible use sesame oil for cooking the veggies as this provides a more chinese flavour. To roast the potatoes, we have used pomace olive oil which is suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Salt & pepper – to season Salted roasted peanuts – I have used broken peanuts as garnished for crunch. Avoid if making it as Nut-free.
How to make crispy schezwan potato
When my mum first posted this recipe in 2013, she boiled the potatoes in a stovetop normal pressure cooker then baked them coated in semolina in the oven. Since the arrival of the Instant Pot and Air fryer in our kitchen we tend to make this recipe using these gadgets too. Here is the Instant pot and air fryer recipe. For the original baked version check out the recipe card below.
Boil baby potatoes in Instant Pot
I used the Instant Pot Pro Crisp which has both pressure cooker and air fryer functions but you can separately use an electric pressure cooker and air fryer. Wash the potatoes and cut the potatoes in half if they are too big. I left the skin on but you could peel the potatoes either at this point or once they are boiled. Add the potatoes to the inner pot of the instant pot and add enough water so that it just covers the potatoes. Ensure the valve is on the seal position when you close the lid. I cooked the potatoes for 3 minutes on low pressure but you can also choose 1 minute on high pressure. Allow around 5-10 mins of NPR – natural pressure release before opening the lid. Remove the potatoes from the water or else they will continue to cook in the hot water. You can now either bake or air-fry the potatoes
Air-fry baby potatoes to crispy perfection
The benefit of airfrying is that you get all-over even crispiness without having to keep turning the potatoes. You can either use or leave out the semolina as the potatoes will be crispy enough without. Pre-heat the airfryer to 195C/380F for 5 mins. Place the potatoes in the airfryer basket and brush with oil and season with salt. Sprinkle over semolina if using. Airfryer for 12-15 minutes until golden all over. Once the program is complete, open the air fryer draw otherwise the heat will continue to cook the potatoes.
Cooking the vegetables
You can also use the Instant Pot for this too by using the saute function! Alternatively, use a frying pan. Remember to keep the heat high to stir-fry the veggies but work fast Add oil to the pan and saute the ginger-garlic puree. Add the white parts of the spring onion with the stir fry mix and mix. Do not over cook the vegetables as we want to leave a crunch. Add the sauces and the crispy potatoes. Season and turn off the heat. Garnish with the green part of the spring onion.
Top tips for preparing my perfect Schezwan Potatoes Indo-Chinese Style
The potatoes need to retain their shape – do not over-boil them Keep the vegetables crunchy, do not overcook these either – use them fresh the day they are bought if using a stir fry kit You can also pan-fry the potatoes to make them crispy. Change the consistency to suit you, you can make this recipe dry or with a gravy. If you are making a gravy, do not simply add more schezwan sauce to make more gravy, it will be too spicy! Instead, make a thin cornstarch slurry and add to the sauce to thin it out. Adjust the spice level according to what you like. The quicker you serve the better else the vegetables will not be as crunchy. Add which vegetables you like or have in your fridge
Other potato recipes
Dahi Aloo (potatoes in yogurt gravy) Easy Masala Chips Cardamom Potato Dauphinoise Baby Potato Pulao (Lasaniya Batata Rice) Packed Potato Bhajiya (fritters) As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations! Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!
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Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First time published in December 2013.
