Tomato ketchup is made by concentrating tomato juice or pulp without seeds and pieces of skin. Spices , salt, sugar, vinegar, onion, etc are added to the extent that it contains not less than 12 % tomato solids and 28 % total solids.
Materials:
Fully ripe deep coloured tomato fruits, sugar, salts, vinegar, Condiments and Spices, Bottles, Muslin cloth, etc.
Procedure of Preparation of Tomato Ketchup:
1. Select fully ripe deep coloured tomatoes.
2. Wash them thoroughly in running water to remove dirt and extraneous matter and form off the decayed or defective portions.
3. Place the tomatoes in a muslin cloth bag and dip in boiling water for 3-5 minutes to facilitate pulping.
4. The fruits are then crushed thoroughly in a stainless steel or aluminium vessel with a wooden ladle. The pulp thus obtained is strained.
5. To every 1 kg of pulp add the following ingredients.
Sr.No | Ingredients | Quantity |
1 | Tomato juice | 1 kg |
2 | Garlic ( chepped) | 1.10 gm |
3 | Onion ( Chopped) | 16.59 gm |
4 | Red chill powder | 0.55 gm |
5 | Cardamom major | 0.22 gm |
6 | Cinnamon | 0.22 gm |
7 | Black pepper | 0.22 gm |
8 | Mace ( not ground) | 0.22 gm |
9 | Cumin Seed | 0.22 gm |
10 | Cloves( Whole headless) | 0.55 gm |
11 | Vinegar | 15.00 gm |
12 | Sugar | 38.50 gm |
13 | Salt | 13.20 |
6. Take the above spices ( 4 to 10) ground coarsely, and put in a small loose muslin bag. Onion and garlic should be placed in another muslin bag. Put these two bags and 1/3 sugar in the juice and heat the mass upto the time it becomes 1/3 or slightly less than the original volume taken, add the remaining 2/3 sugar, remove the bag and squeeze it to extract the flavour and aroma of spices. Heat the ingredients for some more time to maintain the 1/3 volume of the original , add vinegar and salt and heat for 5 minutes.
7. Remove the vessel from the flame and add sodium benzoate 0.025%.
8. Pour the finished product immediately into the previously sterilized bottles. Seal the bottle airtight and pasteurize in boiling water for 30 – 35 minutes.
9. Label and store in a cool dry place.
Important Hints of Preparation of Tomato Ketchup:
1. Only about a third of the total amount of sugar required is added before cooking. This help to intensify and fix tomato colour. The rest of the sugar is added a little before the ketchup is ready.
2. Salt bleaches the tomato colour. It is therefore, desirable to add it towards the end.
3. Vinegar should be added only towards the end, so that it does not volatize.
4. The minimum acidity as acetic acid should be 1.2 %.
5. The ketchup should be bottled at about 190 0F to prevent darkening of its colour and loss of vitamin content during the storage.
