Tomato Ketchup

A must keep preserve , an accompaniment with any fried snack...and Kids favorite too
My kiddie enjoys every bit of these , in fact she asks for snack only to enjoy ketchup with it...

Thought to give it a try once , as tomatoes were on sale in a near by grocery store.
There are hundred ways to prepare the same in the net ,  I wanted to make it possibly in an easy way and keep it less complicated too.

Ingredients 

Tomatoes - 2 pound
Garlic - 10 to 15 no's (I used more)
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch size piece
Cloves - 3 no's
Bay leaves - 1 to 2  dry leaves
Pepper corns - 1 T b Sp (or less , adjust according to your preference)
Sugar - 1/3 cup (use brown sugar if you have)
Red chili Powder - 3 Tb Sp (I used Kashmiri chili powder for that bright color)
Vinegar - 1/2 cup (I used Apple cider)
Salt to taste.

(May add Basil leaves , Oregano etc to include more flavors , though I didn't use these this time)

Method 

* Wash and line the skin of the tomatoes with a knife and steam these or boil it in little water for 10 to 15 minutes , so that its skin can be easily peeled off.

This step is optional , as we'll have to strain the tomatoes anyway after blending it so the skin and seeds can be removed then , but peeling away the skin initially makes the straining easier.

* Remove the skin and add in finely chopped garlic ,broken cinnamon,  cloves and bay leaves.

* Mash these tomatoes with a spoon so that its all its juice oozes out , keep it to boil and reduce in medium to low heat.

* Add chili powder , sugar and pepper corns and continue heating it.

* Heat till its water reduces and the sauce starts to thicken (it took almost 45 minutes) ,do stir in between, when its thick enough , switch off the heat and let it cool.

* Blend this in a blender until smooth a, without any lumps and Strain.
(May remove the bay leaves and whole spices before blending)

* Keep these to boil again in low heat , add Vinegar and salt to taste , close with a lid as it may start to splatter.

* Heat till its thick enough and reaches a consistency of a store bought tomato sauce. (May take another 20 to 30 minutes in low heat , do stir in between)

* Switch off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

* Sterilize the glass bottle in which the sauce is to be stored.

* Keep the glass bottle upside down until no bit of water is left inside , dry thoroughly and transfer the sauce.

Stays outside for at least 3 weeks , for longer shelf life store it in the fridge, as there is no other preservatives added to this.

Enjoy !!

Cheers
TN