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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Pesto with Basil and Walnuts

Pesto is one of those condiments that I did not warm up to immediately. Years of watching Lidia Bastianich cook basil finally made me get off the couch and give it a try. I was not disappointed. The freshness of the basil has a lot to do with the end result. I did not follow Lidia's recipe exactly and made a few changes obviously to make it a bit more spicy. I skipped the cheese.

Traditionally pine nuts are used for making pesto I had only walnuts so made use of those. Pine nuts are not only expensive they turn rancid pretty quickly so if you buy them to make pesto use them right away.

Here is my take on pesto,

In a saute pan add oil, add 2-3 tbsp of pesto, cook for a couple of minutes. Add cooked pasta or noodles, toss to coat and serve.

Pesto - Basil and walnuts
Preparation Time:15 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 cups of washed and moisture removed fresh Basil leaves
2. 1 cup of walnuts
3. 3/4 - 1 cup of olive oil
4. 2 green chilies (optional)
5. 2 tsp of black pepper
6. salt to taste

Method

1. In a blender take the basil leaves, chilies, walnuts, salt and pepper and blend to a smooth paste with addition of olive oil at regular intervals.
2. Top of with more olive oil.
Use within 1-2 days of preparation for best taste. Pesto Noodles
3. Cook the pasta or any noodles of choice.
4. Heat a saute pan, heat 2 tsp of olive oil, add 2-3 tbsp of pesto or as required for the amount of pasta. Mix and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add the pasta, toss to coat and serve hot. Sprinkle with cheese or coarsely crushed nuts of top before serving.

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Apple Sauce with a bit of Mango

Fall is the perfect time for fresh apples. This is true only if you visit farmers markets or buy from a local orchard. Don't be shocked though that the apples in grocery store shelves are anywhere between 6-12 months old. I also read a story about an apple warehouse manager who does not eat apples because of the very fact.

The best way to enjoy fresh juicy apples is to either pick them at 'pick your own' orchards or from the farm market attached to the orchards themselves. Last week we visited a local farm market and picked up some fresh juicy apples. I forget the name of the apple variety but it sure scented our refrigerator which has never happened before. I am beating myself for not remembering the variety. Anyway about 10-15 years ago the only apples I ever noticed in most store were Gala, Red Delicious and Granny Smith. All of which did not make me any fonder of apples. They tasted mealy and skin sour and generally kept me away from apples. Fast forward to today most grocery stores carry a wide variety of apples with and the farm markets have even more of a wider array.

Now on to the apple sauce story. I started buying apple sauce to spread over toasts, pancakes and waffles for the kids to avoid the large amount of maple syrup they were consuming. It always took me a while to find the right one. Unsweetened, organic, no additives - the list of requirements were endless.

With apples in abundance it was time to try to make some at home. There is not much to it and I am not sure why I buy the bottled stuff. The convenience of making it at home you can mix any fruit you like to give it a taste twist. I had some frozen mangoes which is what went into the batch of apple sauce I made to eat with some home made waffles.

If your kids or you like apple sauce you should give this a try and it will be hard to go back to the store bought stuff. I usually buy unsweetened apple sauce only from the stores so my kids are used to eating fairly unsweet applesauce. If you need it to a bit sweet add the suggested amount of sugar or more :)

Moreover the store bought apple sauce can't hold a candle to the homemade apple sauce.

Choose the best apples and peel core and make small dices.
Mix with the fruit of choice, cook in some water, mash till smooth or leave it chunky.

Apple sauce with homemade waffles

Apple Sauce with mangoes
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:25-30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 apples - cored, peeled and small diced
2. 1/4 cup of mangoes (used frozen mangoes)
3. 1 tsp of lime juice
4. 2 tsp of sugar or honey - optional (used about 1 tsp of sugar)
5. 1/2 cup of water or more if needed

Method

1. Heat the water till bubbling, add the diced apples and mangoes. Let cook for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the lime juice and sugar if using and let cook for another 10-15 minutes in a slightly medium low flame.
3. Cook till the apples are easily mashed with the back of a spoon. For a fairly chunky apple sauce leave some of them unmashed. If required add a bit more water if the apples are not soft.
4. Turn off heat and mash with a back of a spoon and serve hot or cold.

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