TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE

WHY A CONDIMENT SHARE TODAY?

There is no particular reason, some 3-4 years back I took interest in preparing homemade condiments! Whilst scrolling the Google Album yesterday, I stopped at the pictures of this sauce. I felt the urge to redo the sauce & click fresh pictures! I did not prepare a sauce in between! Early 2020, the pandemic left us numb, we were cooking for bare sustenance; okay, in my home you can say I cooked tasty meals with the minimal ingredients sourced locally! My men cannot have rice with bitter gourd & pumpkin alone! Thereafter, the son left home & I am still coping up with the void created! He was born & I lost my job! At that time, we did not even think of staying without him for hours; the matter was delicate given his father was sailing at the time! After 21 years, you would not question your child what solution he has for his mother, the father at least has a job! That is wrong of a parent! Set your kids free, as long as they are aiming to do good in life; not partying every other day & wasting your hard earned money; you should be happy! If you have a mental ailment as mine, you have to live with it! I keep telling my son everyday I miss him but never question your son or daughter's decisions unless you see they are misusing the liberty given to them! Our child was doing poor in the computer science, we told him to drop it & concentrate on the Business Administration part; he got us A grades in CA; I loved his determination which I have always lacked! Had I have strived for the better, I would not have been a sit at home today doing nothing!

THE WEATHER IS COOLER, I FEEL LAZIER!

Today again I did not go out! I was swimming but with a fear! There was thunder & lightening, Coach Joe warned me not to swim in such a weather! Yesterday evening too I went for a walk in the heavy rain! I need to do some kind of a cardio five days a week as I do no HIIT or similar! After a Hilsa & pakora lunch, I had a 5$ churro & coffee combo at the Guzman Y Gomez! One good thing is that their coffee is sans any amount of sugar & I asked not to dust the powdered cinnamon & sugar on the churros! However, without the duo, there is no point having a churro!

It was raining, I was walking in the shedded market area, bought stuffs more than walking! Back home I see the existing television been replaced by a gigantic one! I am told it came for free with a specific StarHub connection! I let the bread winner enjoy the little of luxuries he wants in life! But in this small living area, it is not matching! Again it started raining, I feel drowsy after a big plate of vermicelli upma! Because I have nothing else to do, I am having an ever-increasing appetite I believe!

With a left over lentil batter, I also tried some appe pan fritters! They too required oil but way less! I am too uncomfortable working with an air fryer! 

This is how my present life is, highly unproductive unless you give some importance to cooking! With a Cristine at home, I am not even contributing to home making! I am only adding to my weight & width!

The deep fried ones are tastier than this version; this is good too!

WHAT IS THIS TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE?

I am fond of different variety of sauces & pickles with my fries, fritters, starters! I used to watch all of the ad jingles in those days, used to drool at those ripe tomatoes; wondered who used sweeter oranges as claimed for their squash, Druk or Nissan! Those days haunt me & this I think is a clear sign of aging! I enjoy living in the present too! I am a misfit in this smart, fast paced world; because I do not interact much, I can stay in my own comfort zone! For the past two years, I am not cooking much of a variety! The son has taken with him a major part of my energy & attention! I have a couple of pickle recipes to share with you too! I love my share of spicy sauces, not really a ketchup! However, the store-bought sauces have a lot of sugar in them! I fear more the artificial preservatives used! In this vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE, I did not use any preservative & taste enhancer. In my neighbourhood wet market; I get fresh, ripe tomatoes at a good price!

INGREDIENTS :

RIPE TOMATO : 1.5-2 KG

FAT BIG SIZED RED CHILLI : 7-8 [choose your's]

SUGAR : 2-3 TBSP

KASHMIRI RED CHILLI POWDER : 2 TSP

CORN FLOUR : 2 TBSP

VINEGAR : 2-3 TBSP [ALTERNATIVELY USE 4-5 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

PROCEDURE : 

The quality of the tomatoes & red chillies have to be really good! 

We would wash & cut the tomatoes & the red chillies, take them in a pressure cooker!

We would add some water and a little of salt to it! 

Closing tight the cover & lid, we would pressure cook at the minimal temperature up to 2-3 whistles!

Once the lid opens by itself; we would take the pressure cooked tomato & chillies in a blender & let cool! We will reserve the water.

We would blend it to a paste, add that reserved water a bit and strain well.

We would transfer the extract to a sauce pan & add the sugar & Kashmiri red chilli powder to it!

We would put for boil the paste & keep the heat at low! We would keep stirring! We also have to adjust the salt & the sugar at this stage of cooking, if required!

When the sauce gets thicker & the colour turns darker, we would add the corn flour to the remaining water and beat well! We would add it to the simmering sauce to get an even thicker consistency.

Add the vinegar & simmer it for few more minutes stirring constantly. Once cool, completely, use a funnel to transfer it to  a properly cleaned, dry bottle! 

Because it is homemade, store it always in the refrigerator & try to use up within a month or two! We have used vinegar as a preservative, hence!