Homemade tomato sauce/ketchup is very easy to prepare in our kitchen with a little bit of patience. During the winter season, good quality tomatoes are easily available in abundance. So other than preparing tomato soup this winter season, try some homemade tomato sauce/ketchup also. And trust me, it is really tasty!!
You might be wondering why I am insisting to prepare tomato sauce when it is so easily available in almost all big and small shops. Well, the very first reason is that I grew up watching my mother prepare tomato sauce during each winter season for the whole year. Actually, my siblings and I grew up watching lots of things being prepared by mom rather than buying from the market. Tomato sauce or ketchup, whatever you name it, is one of them!
The second reason is that I always find market bought sauce too sweet, so I never really like it. The biggest advantage of preparing tomato sauce at home is that we can control the quantity of sugar, salt and can have very less preservative or probably preservative-free sauce. And of course, if we will be using the best quality of fresh tomatoes for sauce, we will be a little lenient with our kiddo if he or she is just licking sauce from the plate rather than finishing their sandwich along with itπ.
Usually, while preparing tomato sauce, white salt is added, but I love the taste of black and rock salt. So here I have added all three salts together and all three salts enhanced the taste of sauce! But you can as well use only white salt.
For garam masala and ginger I have used powdered ones, but whole garam masala and fresh ginger can also be used. If you are using whole garam masala and fresh ginger, tie them in a piece of white muslin cloth. In Hindi we call it ‘potli’. Add this potli in the pressure cooker while boiling tomatoes. The whole flavor of spices will seep out through this potli in tomatoes. After boiling tomatoes, squeeze out all the juice from potli and discard it.
I have not added water while boiling tomatoes. Later, while boiling the pulp that extra water takes a little bit longer to evaporate. To avoid that, after adding chopped tomatoes in the cooker, don’t cover the lid. Keep stirring tomatoes on medium flame and in 5-7 minutes juices of tomatoes will come out. Now close the lid and let the tomatoes boil.
Not adding water is very helpful in increasing the shelf life of sauce.
For preserving the sauce, I have added only vinegar – so the sauce has to be kept in the fridge. But for long time preservation, we need to add sodium benzoate. But my personal suggestion is that rather than adding an extra preservative, we can always prepare a fresh batch of sauce. The lesser the amount of preservative in our food, the better it is!
Depending on the sourness of tomatoes you have to decide how much sugar is enough in sauce. While preparing sauce, once sugar dissolves completely, take some quantity of sauce in a bowl to taste. Now you can check the taste of salt, sugar, spices and add some more if required.
Sometimes kids are very fussy and so obsessed with market bought products that they simply refuse to eat homemade stuff. If you think that your kids will refuse to eat homemade sauce, you can trick them easily. Don’t throw away empty bottles of market bought sauce. Sterilize these bottles nicely and dry them thoroughly. Fill homemade sauce in these bottles and job done!Β Very soon you will be preparing the next batch of sauce smilingly in your kitchen.
I have a few more sauce recipes in the blog, can take a look at them also…Salted Caramel Sauce,Β Strawberry sauce ,Pizza sauce
Ingredients:
Tomato 2 kg
Sugar 1+1/2 cups
White salt 1/2 tsp
Black salt 1/2tsp
Rock salt 3/4 tsp
Ginger powder 1/2 tsp
Garam masala 1 tbsp
Vinegar 2 tbsp
Process:
Wash tomatoes nicely and cut them into four pieces.
Boil these tomatoes in an open pressure cooker without adding water. Keep stirring continuously until juices have completely seeped out of tomatoes. Now as there is enough liquid in the pressure cooker, add garam masala and dry ginger powder or the potli of whole garam masala and fresh ginger. Close the lid along with weight and let tomatoes cook until they get nicely boiled.
Once steam from the cooker cools down, open it and let the boiled tomatoes cool down. If potli of spices are added, squeeze out the juice and discard the potli.
Now grind these boiled tomatoes and sieve the puree to get rid of tomato peels and seeds.
Pour this puree in a thick, broad vessel and switch on the stove on high heat. Add all three salts and keep stirring the puree till it starts boiling. Now reduce the heat to medium and let the puree boil till it starts becoming thick. Don’t forget to stir in between – otherwise puree might stick to the bottom of vessel and that burnt smell will waste all our efforts done till now. While stirring, keep scraping the sides of pan.
Be careful – as puree starts becoming thick, it starts spluttering a lot. When puree begins toΒ thicken, add sugar. Stir till sugar dissolves completely and you will notice that the colour of the sauce has changed and the consistency of the sauce is again thin.
Let it boil till it thickens more and reaches the consistency of thick tomato sauce. Switch off heat and let the sauce cool down completely. Add two tbsp vinegar and mix it very well in the sauce.Β With the help of a funnel or piping bag fill tomato sauce in sterilized and completely dry bottles.
Homemade tomato sauce or ketchup is ready to be served with sandwiches, fritters, pakode, fries, parathe wedges etc, etc…. anything you can think of !!
I’ve always wanted to make my own ketchup but wasn’t sure of the recipe to use. But I can trust your recipes, and will now make some myself. Thank you! π
Narendra, you are too generous to say this. Thank you very much. I hope you will be satisfied with the recipe βΊοΈ
The pleasure is mine. π
I am sure I will be! Will keep you posted on my trial.
ππ» π
I grew up watching my grandma doing it π
Lots of work but definitely worth it ππ
Ribana, moms and grand-moms are somehow similar everywhereβΊοΈ
Thank you very much.
I felt that boiling definitely takes time, rest is simple process.
Have a safe and wonderful week ahead.
Very much so π
Thank you! Have a wonderful and safe week ahead too!
Some very helpful tips here! Thank you Dee π
You are always welcome β€οΈ
Childhood memories π
Thanks for putting a smile
βΊοΈπ
I will definitely try this! I really don’t like bought ketchup. I think they put water in and then they thicken it with maize flower.
I just had a look at the other sauces as well. All yummy!
Oh really, I heard that instead of fresh tomatoes dried tomato powder is used along with dehydrated onions. Well, either tomato powder or maize flour, nothing can beat the taste of fresh tomatoes and not too much efforts in preparation . Now you have garam masala alsoπ
That sounds even worse … and yes, I have all spices for garam masala. π I actually had most Indian spices, with the exception of methi and hing.
I am sure you will grow methi and asafoetida, well Indians started growing it now and recently got the first crop. Sounds strange but for so many years we were importing.
You might try as it needs cold weather!
I know that Methi is growing here, I am just not sure that the plant that I had in the garden really was Methi … π
True, you will be sure once through seeds you will see the leaves.
The kaala namak is a nice touch. Haven’t used it in sauce so far.
Thanks a lot Jaya. I love the taste of kala namak with tomatoes a lot and it worked well π
I normally don’t like tomato ketchup, looking at al the yummy flavors n pics am craving to it π. All your blogs look awesome Deeksha. I would definitely go thru whenever I get time. π
Thank you very much Suma for going through the blog posts. Sometimes our taste buds become so much used to with packed food that we think that is the only good or bad taste. Who knows if the same food is homemade, we might give it a try to like it also π
Looks super delicious,Deeksha. Always wonder what I am giving kids when I give them the branded stuff. Thanks for sharing. Will try this π
Thanks a lot and always welcome DeepikaβΊοΈπ
We all are scared about the quality of the packed food. Not everything, but still there are a few things we can prepare fresh in our kitchen π
Ah, thanks for sharing this Deeksha. Had no idea that making sauce at home was so easy. Will pakka try it π
You are always welcome dear Radhikaπ₯°π€
Just take care of boiling, boiling and boiling the puree, rest is an easy processπ
I think the ubiquity of big ag ketchup has led many to consider it as something one just doesn’t do. How wrong. Essentially tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, spices. The one thing commercial producers got right was the container they are in so I appreciate your suggestion to clean and reuse. However there’s a downside. I’ve found the ph of homemade ketchup isn’t quite acidic enough to prevent mold (unless you add the preservative as noted) – even in the fridge. If it’s in a commercial squeeze bottle you then have to both inspect and if there’s mold, then toss.
The recipe looks lovely with lots of care taken. Lots made too. Have you considered water bathing it in Mason jars so its shelf stable until needed? I take the lazy way out: homemade tomato chutney pureed with tomato paste.
Thank you so much for going through the whole post and pointing out your valuable thoughts.
Nowadays food stores have almost every thing in packed form, so it is difficult to believe that many things actually can be done in our kitchen. Sauce, potato chips, rice chips, pickles and even vermicelli was prepared by my parent’s neighborhood aunts. We got gadgets for convenience in the kitchen but forgot to cook.
Yes, ph is not sufficient to preserve homemade sauce even in the fridge. That’s why my mom used to add both preservatives. I decided only vinegar as I am fine to prepare next batch.
Mason jars are considered best for keeping sauce but I had these bottles so didn’t buy.
Water bath canning is a good idea to increase shelf life but this process needs a lot of patience and precautions.
Probably some other time with a different sauce in less quantity I might try this method…!
You are already putting so much love attention and time into this… Waterbathing would add only another hour start to finish
I must say you are too good in convincing πβΊοΈ
Thank you for the lovely recipe. Homemade ketchup is so much better! π
You are always welcome Lynette π
Homemade is far better in terms of quality and taste bothβΊοΈ
Superb and excellent preparation of home made tomato sauce. Never seen how it was made in our homes, Deeksha. Too good will surely give it a try. Thanks for this awesome recipe.
You are always welcome Kamal and thank you very much for your lovely appreciation πβ€οΈ
Can’t remember how my mother started preparing homemade sauce but the whole neighborhood aunts used to do it in each winter season as tomatoes are very cheap these days.
Still can’t say how economical it is but we can bet on the quality of home made sauce!!
Yes and good for the winter climate and preparing anything at home turns out much cheaper than buying from outside. Great recipe Deeksha ππππ
thanks much once again dear friendβ€
You are always welcome dear Deeksha.
Homemade is always better! Great job with the ketchup and instructions. Love the addition of spices. π
Thank you very much RonitβΊοΈ
Spices definitely gave wonderful flavor and balanced well with sugar!
Now, that’s something!
Thank you very muchβΊ
π π
My wife does not like all the sugar in processed foods from the market, so we may try this soon. Thanx!!
You are always welcome. I am glad you found the recipe helpful as per your requirementsβΊ
Nice. Something I never thought to do but sounds like a very good thing to try.
JoAnn, thanks a lot βΊοΈ
It is definitely a good thing to try once. Makes a lot of difference in taste and of course in quality.
Thatβs amazing Deeksha! Now you wouldnβt have to worry about store preservatives! At least in this! But can we reduce the sugar to 1cup if we donβt want it too sweet? And how much quantity does this make comparing it to store bought? (500 g and etc)
Yes Aarushi, for the last 5-6 years we stopped buying breads, biscuits, cakes, sauce, aerated drinks, juices. Trying to keep our food preservative free as much as possible. I sell whipping cream cakes but personally we either have tea cakes or ganache based ones.
Decide the quantity of sugar based on the sweet or sour of tomatoes. Quantity will be again based on the quality of tomatoes whether tomatoes are pulpy or juicy. I guess I got around 700 or 800 grams sauce.
Thank you for the information! Wow! U sell cakes? That is surprising and I donβt know why! Itβs just that it seems like you are already busy with the family and the blog too.(like you have to answer so many comments and then type the post out!π
My mom is just like you! She also wants to avoid food preservatives as much as she can. Thatβs why we got a bread maker so we can make bread at home, we have stopped bringing biscuits and cakes too as I make them!π€
My friends say that I should start selling the whipping cream cakesπbut they just joke around. I havenβt yet tried out any ganache cakes yet. But probably on my sisters birthday, Iβll make a truffle cake. So knowing that you sell them, You must have a great experience. Can you guide me in my cake making? (Just a request) you can go to my blog post for the cakes I made and read it through. Please tell me if there are any other tips or suggestions or any improvements that I could make.
Also sorry for the long message but I think this conversation will go long!π¬
Aarushi, you need to focus on your studies and for starting your own business, you need to spend a lot of time to practice.
Ya i know. Starting business was a jokeπ. I know itβs too early right now for me…even a YouTube channel is too early. So my parents said that they thought blog was the best suitable option.and even I thought so. Thank you for your concern tho!
Aarushi, improvements happen with the feedback of customer. If your friends are joking also, initially you can try in the beginning by gifting them small cakes at their birthdays. Ask their honest feedback and improve yourself. For practice you can buy dummy cake, wrap it with fondant and practice decorations.Very important point-Don’t get offended by customer’s feedback. Each customer has different choice, so if same recipe works well for 5 customers, not necessarily it will be good for others as well. And never forget that in the beginning you want customers to trust you. They have different options other than you, so until you make them addicted with your goodies, and you be sure confident about your work, keep up your smileβΊ
I saw the big message and the device was right in fron tif me so I knew that I have to read it right now. Thank you so much for the information! Iβm so glad to hear this coming from you! I was kidding actually. My friends donβt joke around. Some,times they get too serious that I should start a shopπ
I know that focusing on school is important which is why I myself, am not convinced about commercial work. Having a blog is mire than enough for me actually!ππ
If you are sure that you want to grow in this field only, then nothing is wrong in working in this direction. But do a lot of practice before selling. No one gives honest feedback for ‘free ka cake’ until they pay money, so practice, practice and practice.. and for practicing you have to gift a few cakes free of cost. After all how much white flour you can consume personally.
As of now I know that I want to go in this baking and cooking felid only. That is true.. nice to hear from you and thanks for ur opinion. It was something I was looking for …. a guidance!
Sorry for occupying you for too long! I really am. But are there any ways to decorate a cake for Christmas apart from any type of cream?(only if you are up for it)π¬π¬
If you are talking about Plum cake, then use dry fruits and nuts or else fondant , gum paste, marzipan or royal icing.
Thxβ€οΈβ€οΈ
That’s awesome Deeksha! Although it seems like some effort to make it am sure the end result is worth it . Thanks for the detailed explanation.
You are always welcome Nisha and thank you very much ππ€
Yes, I guess efforts are worthy to keep our food preservative free as much as possible nowadays.
Thank you for sharing Deeksha, will try it out surely πβ€οΈ
You are always welcome Samreen βΊοΈπ
π₯°π€π
Nothing could beat such home-made condiments, I think everyone, who wants to keep theselves away from harmful additives, would like to try this recipe. Thanks for a wonderful share.
You are always welcome Megalaπ
Now a days it is so difficult to keep ourselves away from packed food. So whatever we can do to keep ourselves away from them within or limits, we should try.
Nothing can beat a homemade stuff. That holds true for tomato paste as well!
So true π tomato paste, ginger garlic paste or tomato sauce, homemade is the best!
ππ
Lovely, Deeksha. You’re not just a wonderful cook but a very sweet person too.
Thank you very much dear Meenal β€οΈβΊοΈπ
This is a wonderful share, reading it makes a temptation of doing it. Well explained.
Thank you very much Subbashini π
This is awesome.
Thank you very much Tina βΊοΈ
This is really interesting. I bet it would be fun to make.
Thank you very much Jeff.
Yes, it was interesting to prepare something at home which is usually considered could be done only by big brandsβΊοΈ
Lovely β€οΈπ
Thank you very much π
π€ππ»ββοΈβ€οΈ
Wow Deekshaβ£οΈ This sure is a much healthier version of tomato sauce. As you rightly said this is a tomato season and we must make full use of it ππ»
Thanks a lot Monika π
Yes, and we get best quality of tomatoes also, so why not use them as much as possible!
Bingo!
Looks lovely, and no-preservative makes it even more attractive. Will it keep without a fridge for a month or so?
Thanks a lot π
No, without preservative fridge is essential. Acidity of tomatoes is not sufficient to preserve sauce.
And just yesterday I was looking for homemade pizza sauce!
And I am doing it tomorrowπ
rather than adding an extra preservative, we can always prepare a fresh batch of sauce. The lesser the amount of preservative in our food, the better it is! Nice π needs so much attention and health consciousness..
Thank you very much Kamala. I am glad that we both think alike in keeping our food healthy πβΊοΈ
You are welcome dear friend.. π€
Ok Deeksha. You are OFFICIALLY the most Goddessy, Womanly Woman I know!!! You even make Your own Ketchup! I LOVE it! You’re amazing! You just gifted lots of joy! Thank You, Cheers and Rock On with Your beautiful self!!! πβ€οΈπ€
Katy, I am deeply humbled with your sweet and loving appreciationβ€π
I am not as good as you for putting feeling and gratitude in beautiful words, but thank you very much dear friendπ₯°
My absolute pleasure, beautiful Deeksha!!! And You communicate feeling and gratitude perfectly! You always gift much Joy!!! π€ππ!!!
When I was a child we lived in Afghanistan where Ketchup was not available, so my mom used to make it. I remember her using an old fashioned meat grinder to grind the tomatoes. This recipe brings back a good childhood memory for me. ππ
Moms are just amazing, isn’t it !!
You spent your childhood in Afghanistan, must be pretty hard that time.
I am glad this post revived your memories Kaminiππ
Yes mom’s are amazing. I miss mine a lot. She passed away 6 years ago. My childhood in Afghanistan was very fun. Afghanistan was peaceful then. I lived there before the Russians invaded.
A perfect professional recipe, Deeksha! Excellent details given!
Back here after a gap π
Indira, thank you very much π
Yes, seeing you after a long time… busy with office?
A friend of mine’s mother used to make her own tomato sauce and ketchup, and it was so good. Thanks for sharing your recipe for it!
Thank you very much Ann and you are always welcome βΊοΈ
Dee, thank you for sharing this healthy preparation of tomato sauce. And I love your trick when kids refuse to eat homemade sauce. π
Thanks for the tips re: boiling tomatoes and water. I often have runny tomato sauce, so next time I’ll be a bit more patient β and will leave the lid off.
This sounds wonderful. And I love the idea of washing out bottles from the store and putting your own ketchup/sauce in it!
Thank you very much Ruth for going through the whole post. This year my sister also ended up with slightly thin sauce as she also boiled tomatoes with water. Later got lazy with boiling, boiling and boiling ππ
Thanks for sharing this great recipe. Very good post ma’amπππ»ππ€π
Many many thanks for the appreciation Yogeshππ
Wishing you a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year!!
This is the perfect moment making homemade ketchup. Tomatoes are the best gift from God. Homemade tomato sauce is wonderful for family.
I am going to make it for my family this weekend. Your recipe with ginger powder is great!
Dear Oscar, many many thanksπ
Yes ,winter season brings the best tomato crop. WE should use them as much as we can in different forms. I hope your family would also agree with the addition of ginger!
Wow. That’s great – homemade ketchup. Thanks for sharing!
Many thanks Shweta ππ If you have time I would highly recommend you to try this, far far better than market bought!
Sounds like a project for the weekend. Thanks for the recipe π
ππ