Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

3	kilograms of ripe tomatoes, washed
100	grams of onions, cleaned
25	grams of garlic, cleaned. I used roughly 2 pods
60	grams of ginger, cleaned
250	grams of sugar
30	grams of garam masala or all spice powder
15	grams of red chili powder
	salt to taste
2	bayleaves
2	cloves
2	big cardamoms
1	stick of cinnamon
5-6	black peppercorns

Preparation

1.	Pressure cook or boil in a large vessel, all the tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger. Do not add water or cut tomatoes. When the tomatoes are soft and have released water on their own, remove them from the flame. Set aside to cool.
2.	In the meanwhile, take a small handkerchief sized muslin or Japanese tea bag holder and place whole spices (bayleaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns). Fold the corners of the muslin and form a small 'potli'/ pouch. Set aside.
3.	When the tomato mixture is cool, grind it into a paste and strain it out leaving out all the seeds and skin. Take a big vessel and pour the strained tomato puree into it. Add remaining spices - salt, garam masala, sugar and red chilli powder. Also add the whole spices potli/ pouch to the puree mixture. Mix well and allow it to cook till it is reduced to almost half the original amount. The consistency should be thick. To test if it has reached desired consistency, place a drop of sauce on a small plate, if no water is oozed out from that drop, then the sauce is cooked perfectly. If any water is still remaining then continue cooking till the water test shows no water oozing out from the drop.
4.	Allow it to cool down completely and then pour into clean jars. Refrigerate and use when required.

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Notes

My mother’s recipe from the repertoire of family recipe.

I have not added any preservative and simply refrigerated. But if you intend to make a bigger batch and use over a longer period of time, then I suggest adding citric acid to preserve.