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Kicked-Up Ketchup
March 8, 2007 | 15 Comments
Try saying that five times.
The word ‘ketchup’ originated from ‘kecap manis’ – the trademark fish sauce from Malaysia and Indonesia. The Dutch and English brought it to Europe and re-flavoured it with mushrooms, anchovies and walnuts. The first recorded recipe for tomato ketchup is believed to be from the Sugar House Book published in 1801. It states:
“Get them quite ripe on a dry day, squeeze them with your hands till reduced to a pulp, then put half a pound of fine salt to one hundred tomatoes, and boil them for two hours.
Stir them to prevent burning.
While hot press them through a fine sieve, with a silver spoon till nought but the skin remains, then add a little mace, 3 nutmegs, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and pepper to taste.
Boil over a slow fire till quite thick, stir all the time.
Bottle when cold.
One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years.”
Not much has changed in the way people prepare and bottle ketchup at home, except for the fancy flavourings.
In summer, when we have a bumper harvest of tomatoes in our garden, the traditional method of cooking and preserving fresh tomatoes makes sense. At this (or any) time of the year, when tomatoes are not so plentiful, and not so flavourful, tomato paste from a can is the quickest and most convenient alternative. It takes all of five mintues to make wonderful tasting ketchup.
Tomato ketchup is very good for you. It is rich in lycopene, which has cancer-fighting abilities.
Purple, green and red varieties of ketchup all delivered similar amounts of lycopene (although dark red ketchup contained slightly more), but a major difference was discovered between organic and non-organic brands. Organic ketchups far surpassed their non-organic counterparts’ in lycopene content.
One organic brand delivered 183 micrograms of lycopene per gram of ketchup, about five times as much per weight as a tomato.Non-organic brands averaged 100 micrograms per gram, with one fast-food sample providing just 60 micrograms per gram. Bottomline: It seems highly likely the same rationale will apply to all tomato products, so, for the most lycopene, choose the deepest red organic ketchup, tomato sauce, juice and other tomato products.
Besides, cooked tomatoes have more health benefits than raw ones.
There are several benefits to preparing ketchup at home. You can flavour it any way you want. You can also do away with all the high fructose corn syrup, sodium and preservatives added to commercial ketchups.
Heinz tomato ketchup – 1 tbsp (17 gms) has 190 mg of sodium (8% of daily value).
Ours has 9 mg per tbsp.
Basic recipe:
One 6oz can tomato paste (Ingredient: tomato pulp)
1/4 cup boiling hot water
2 tbsps. vinegar
maple syrup or jaggery
pinch of salt
spices
RECIPE
Kicked-Up Masala Chilli Ketchup
(Makes about 1 cup)
Ingredients
A 6oz. can of tomato paste
1/4 cup water
2 tbsps. apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash salt-free lemon pepper seasoning (or salt)
3/4 tsp. cayenne (chilli) powder
1/8 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or 1/2 tsp fresh garlic made into a fine paste)
pinch of powdered mace (javithri)
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1 clove finely powdered
1.5 tbsp. maple syrup
Method
1. Heat the water in the microwave for 30 seconds until it boils.
2. Put the tomato paste in a microwave safe bowl, add the hot water and the rest of the ingredients. Whisk it all together.
3. Taste and adjust spice/seasonings, microwave on high covered for two minutes. Let it cool down a bit, then spoon it into a squirt bottle or into a jar.
Variations: Add sauteed onions or roasted red peppers and blend, for a sweeter, richer flavour. Spice it up with allspice, cinnamon or horseradish.
Ketchup trivia
More Ketchup Trivia
Ketchup vs. Mustard
Planet Ketchup
Instant ketchup recipes
Un-Tomato Ketchup
Innovative uses for ketchup
Filed Under: HOW TO, masala-chilli, Tomato, tomato-ketchup, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes
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15 Comments
Thats a great one, i have never made ketchup at home but my chithi served me some homemade ketchup with paratha at her place last week and it tasted so fresh. I’m gonna try making a batch while tomatoes are in abundance.
my mom is good at making ketchup from scarth. i guess i am bit too lazy to make it at home;) i know we cant compare the freshness and healthier version of homemade cooking with store brought ones.
All those spices in it….of course, its gonna kick me back.
Thanks for this recipe, this would go well with some rainbow vadas I am making today.Want to come over for lunch?
Indian ishtyle Catsup!! HURRAY!!
I would love it with parathas but my kids probably curse ya!!;D
thanks, trupti. nandita, sia won’t you invite me as well? lol….
asha, your kids don’t like ketchup?
The pic is beautiful, I liked the background specifically
My ma too was fond of making Ketchups, but I love my Maggi Hot & Sweet, stock them up
our fav is maggi masala chilli. and chinese sweet chilli garlic sauce (which is like maggi hot and sweet, i guess). – bee.
Wow, home made ketchup, sounds easy, and I can see so many possiblities of adding different flavors. BTW, how long will this keep, i didn’t see any preservatives in the recipe?
I didn’t know that cooked tomatoes are better than row. Thanks for that info.
tomato and vinegar – keeps for a long long time. i boil the water and cook the ketchup in the microwave to prolong its shelf life. i’d say a few months atleast. it’s a small quantity i’ve made, so i don’t think it’s an issue. – bee
Hey,
That’s a nice one. My mom makes ketchup at home too. You have been busy cooking a lot of things:)
Swaps
Bee, i invite you for lunch/dinner-plz. bring the ketchup
had it today. it’s too spicy for me. – bee
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This is very good writing on ketchup. I was just doing a bit of research as background for writing a post on my blog about a spicy ketchup that I made today, and your name came up on google.
The homemade ketchup was was so different and so much more fabulous than any commercial one that I have ever tasted that I decided to write about it. And then I had to make a potato, cauliflower, and daikon Indian-style dish to go with it.
It takes just a few more ingredients than yours(including a “kick-up” with a bit of garam masala), and uses organic tomato puree as the base, since it’s winter here in Japan now and good tomatoes are scarce.
Just wanted to tell you I enjoyed your post, your blog looks very good, and the photos are great. I’m going to explore further and maybe try that recipe for Kasmiri garam masala later today. Thanks for great-looking recipes, vegetarian and healthy. Think I’ll add you to my blogroll, hope that’s okay.
Hi!
I have linked this post to my blog.
Even though, I’m not too fond of ketchup,I tried my own cheat’s version of your recipe(added all the spice and gg powders to ketchup)and simply loved it!
first time on your blog. Nice recipe. Will surely try and let you know. Thanks