How To Make Tomato Ketchup From Fresh Tomatoes | Homemade Tomato Ketchup

As I had mentioned earlier this year I would be posting many basic recipes for bachelors and many simple but important things that are part in our day to day meal. For an example though I make homemade ghee often but never posted one !  Breads, tomato ketchup, soups and juices are to name a few. One of such item is a non-assuming homemade tomato ketchup. Keep this in fridge.

We have it with every kind of snack but the ones that we buy are added with artificial preservatives and sugar. Considering the fact that there are so many ways of healthy food habits , I have prepared this homemade sauce with only natural ingredients. More over it could be stored days together. When my little one tried this one out with samosas he commented that “Mama, this one tastes even better”. That made my day and I sure hope that after making this sauce you to get compliments from all over. Tomatoes are now a days Rs. 7-8 so make good use of it guys ! 

Ingredients:
2 Kgs Tomatoes
12-15 Garlic cloves
1 inch Ginger
2-3 Green chillies
1 tbsp Black pepper balls
1 tbsp Brown sugar
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar or you can use white vinegar
1 Cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
2  tbsp Salt, adjust 
2 tbsp Dry Oregano, divide the portion as we need to add 1 tbsp during first boiling 
1 tbsp Red chilly flakes
2-3 Bay leaves
3-4 Basil leaves
1/4 cup white Sugar

Besides these you need a big vessel, big strainer, sterilized bottles and mixer grinder

Method:
I just can't emphasis enough for clean sterilized bottle to store your homemade ketchup. So do it a day ahead by washing the jars under tap and then place a big vessel with water. Boil the jars and the caps for next 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Wipe the rim of the jar with clean cloth. Then put the jars upside down and after 15 minutes turn it other way to let it dry naturally.

 Wash tomatoes properly and chop off the stems. Chop them roughly into four pieces. Fill a large pot of water and boil the tomatoes with crushed ginger, garlic pods, green chillies, bay leaves,cinnamon, pepper balls, brown sugar and 1 tbsp salt. Don't worry about the tomato skins as at the end we are going to remove any seeds or skins. On a medium flame stir occasionally. Slice tomatoes naturally oozes lots of water from them so no need to add additional water.

Here you can see various stages of tomatoes that are  cooked on medium flame

Cook for about 1/2 hour or until the tomatoes are soft. Turn off the heat and let this come to room temperature as putting hot liquid inside a grinder may lead to severe accidents !! 
Transfer the tomato mixture in a blender and make a smooth paste.

 Do it in batches if your jar is small or else it will spill over ! Pass the tomato liquid through a strainer. Run a fork in between for the smooth flow. Discard the skins, seeds and bring the liquid back to the burner on low flame. Add the sugar, remaining 1 tbsp dry oregano, vinegar, basil leaves and check the seasoning. If needed add more sugar (I generally make it little spicy ). After 15-20 minutes the tomato mixture will thicken. 

As with time it will thicken more so better check the consistency by dropping a little drop tomato sauce on your palm. It should not be runny or have any water layer outside. Let this cool down completely and then you can transfer your homemade tomato ketchup into sterilized jars. This keeps fine for 1 1/2 months and you need to keep it in fridge. We use this sauce for Pasta sauce, Pizza base sauce along with parathas so we consume it within a month. Yes it gets over soon as nothing beats homemade :-) 

Notes:

• Do not add cold food to hot jars/ bottles or hot food to cold jars !! Jar will shatter.
• Stir frequently to prevent sticking from bottom.
• Be very sure that the lid of the jar and the underside of the ring is clean and fits tight.
• Let the tomato ketchup cool completely then store it.