Slightly Spicy Tomato Ketchup - Recipe

Tomato Ketchup? Who doesn't have this in their fridge or pantry? We do and it is used as condiment for a lot of things. I naturally gravitate towards making some spicy and ever so delicious tomato thokku when I have excess tomatoes that have to be used. Like the linked recipes, one is done completely on the stove top and the other is using an electric rice cooker. If cooking on the stove top, it requires stirring occasionally, if using an electric rice cooker you can let it stew for about an hour, turn it off and then proceed on the stove top.

For ketchup you can use either of those methods to stew the tomatoes first and then proceed . I did the recipe completely on the stove top this time but doing it either way works because the mixture has to be blended and then strained. A hand blended will come in very handy. While a regular blender will work just as well, a bit messy that's all.

Have you tried the spicy tomato ketchup that is available these days? I prefer that to the regular old ketchup and I like the low salt ones. So making it at home I can combine both the tastes that I want and make my own! I used Jamie Oliver's recipe as a guide and did my thing. It was actually a fun recipe to try out. The vegetables I used onions, chilies, ginger and garlic, the proportion and what goes in there is totally flexible. I used about 1/2 lb of vegetables to about 5 lbs of tomatoes. I skipped the cloves, coriander and basil leaves. All of these have a tendency to take over so. If you like the smell or taste of any of these by all means use them.

While 1 1/2 hours seems like a long time, the process is very simple, occasional stirring is all that is required when the tomato pulp has been prepared.

Prepare the tomatoes. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and saute the vegetables other than the tomatoes along with salt and pepper for about 4-5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and continue to cook till the tomatoes fall apart.
When the tomatoes are completely stewed, blend with a hand blender till smooth.
Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pan, add the vinegar, sugar and let cook till the sauce has thickened to ketchup consistency.
Cool and transfer to sterilized jars.

Spicy Tomato Ketchup
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:1 1/2 hours
Ingredients

1. 5 lbs of tomatoes washed and chopped
2. 1/2 lb total of onion, green chilies, ginger chopped and garlic chopped (I used 1 red onion, 5 garlic cloves, 2 inch piece of ginger and about 10 green chilies)
3. 1/3 cup sugar
4. 1 1/4 cups of apple cider vinegar
5. 1 tsp of salt
6. 1 tbsp of olive oil
7. 2 tsp of pepper powder

Method

1. In a heavy bottomed pan heat the olive oil and add all the vegetables excluding the tomatoes. Add the black pepper and salt. Let the vegetables saute for about 4-5 minutes.
2. Add in the chopped tomatoes and let it cook till it disintegrates, becomes liquidy at first and then starts to thicken about 20-25 minutes.
3. Let the cooked tomato mixture cool for a bit and blend with a hand blender.
4. Strain the blended mixture through a fine sieve a couple of times till it is a smooth and shiny sauce.
5. Take the sauce, vinegar and sugar in a clean thick bottomed pan and let it continue to cook till the sauce thickens and becomes the consistency of tomato ketchup. Check the taste and add more sugar, vinegar or salt if required.
   
6. Let cool and pour them into sterilized bottles and refrigerate.

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