Eat it up!: Homemade tomato ketchup/sauce

Now i am totally addicted to tomato sauce or ketchup.Whatever you may call it.I consume it more than it's needed.I just love the tangy and sweet taste of the tomatoes and the kick of the various spices that are added. Oh let's not forget the various chemical agent's,preservatives and coloring agents that comes free with it.Then like a thunder bolt(well,not literally) it struck me that why not make it at home?At least it would be chemical free to a certain extent.So today i made a bottle of ketchup.And the result was quite satisfying i must say.Are you even tempted to make your own ketchup?Let's get started.

ingredients yields 2 cups (approx)

1 kg of good quality of tomatoes.
1/2-3/4th cup of sugar
1 tsp of salt
an inch of ginger
5 cloves of garlic
1 medium sized onion
Few raisins
2 dry red chilies
2 tsp of vinegar
1/4th tsp of garam masala
1/4th tsp of sodium benzoate(optional)

Method

1.Roughly chop the tomatoes,onions,garlic,ginger and raisins.Try to use pulpy tomatoes rather than over ripe or juicy tomatoes.The more the tomatoes are pulpy the more amount of sauce you shall get.

2.Add all the chopped ingredients and the dried red chilies into a deep pan and add it on stove top on a medium flame.Keep a lid over it and let it cook.Don't add water into it because as the tomatoes start cooking it'll secrete all it's juices.

3.After 10 minutes check over them.you'll notice that the tomatoes will start to sweat and leave all it's juices.

4.Cover the lid again and cook it for another 15-20 minutes till the tomatoes cook and reduce in size.Keep checking and stirring in between.

5.Once it the tomatoes cook properly.Let them cool for a while before you put them into a mixer and puree them.After around 5 minutes pour it into a mixer and make a fine puree or paste.

6.Once it's pureed put it into a strainer and strain it.At this stage the seeds and the unwanted chewy part's of the tomatoes will get separated from the puree.

6.After you strain the liquid mixture you'll notice it's not thick enough.It's almost semi-thick.So to make it thicker pour it over a pan and place it over the gas top on medium flame.At this point add all the seasoning(salt,sugar and garam masala).Boil it on medium flame for another 10-15 minutes till it achieves the consistency that of a store bought sauce.(the ketchup that i made i added 3/4th cup of sugar.As the tomatoes were too tangy.Before adding sugar check the sourness of the tomatoes and add sugar as per requirement)

7.Once the sauce becomes thick the color of the tomatoes will turn into a slightly dark shade of red.Switch off the gas and pour the vinegar into the sauce.Now you can stop here to make the entire sauce preservative free.But it'll sustain only for a month,hardly two.If you want to make it sustain longer then boil 2 tsp of water and add 1/4th tsp of Sodium Benzoate and mix it well while the sauce is hot.(I myself used it for the first time and after mixing it into the water the color of the water does not change.But i must admit after putting it into the sauce you can taste a bit of preservative.Now how does preservative taste?umm,well,that's a tricky question.Why don't you find it out yourself.But it does not alter the taste of the sauce though)

8.Your tasty tomato sauce/ketchup is ready.Pour the hot sauce in a sterilized bottle and cool it down to room temperature .More likely for 12 hours and then store it inside the fridge.For best results use the sauce after a day.(in the picture here that i have posted i have used a plastic ketchup bottle.It's better if you store it into a sterilized bottle)