Curried Ketchup.

If you're like me, those two words sound about as weird together as "purple mustard".  I, however, am a convert.  I tried it once, and was blown away.  Not so blown away as to spend $5 on a small bottle of the stuff, but sufficiently blown away to spend the day attempting to make it myself.  (I have an odd way of looking at cost, I admit it). 

You need a stinking huge pot for this one,  just to warn you.  I borrowed my brother's giant 14L stock pot and let me tell you, I just squeaked it by. 

I found a recipe for Ketchup, and since I can't leave well enough alone, I modified it enough to call it my own.  I don't have a giant surplus of tomatoes (mainly because I really only grow enough to stuff my face with for a few weeks) and I wasn't about to buy fresh tomatoes to make this (the recipe called for 24lbs of them), so I opted for canned.  I'll give you a tip, when you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh...  watch the salt.  I completely forgot that canned tomatoes have salt in them, so when I added the requisite 1/4 cup while reducing the ketchup, I made a fatal error that resulted in me throwing away the whole first attempt.  It was a dismal failure.  I didn't add any salt the second time.

Curried Ketchup (makes about 6 pint jars)

3 Tbsp celery seeds

4 tsp whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks, broken (each about 4 inches)

1 1/2 tsp whole allspice

3 cups cider vinegar

Make a spice bag with cheesecloth and the first four ingredients.  Put the vinegar in a pot with the spice bag, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let steep for 25 minutes.  Discard spice bag.

4 3.8L cans of diced tomatoes

3 large onions, chopped

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix tomatoes, onions and cayenne in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, stirring regularly, reduce heat and boil for about 15-20 minutes.  Add vinegar, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

(I took this picture during the first trial, I added more tomatoes for the second, so it barely fit in the pot)

Working in batches, either run tomatoes through a food mill, or put them in a strainer and push through with the back of a spoon (I've tried both methods, they are equally tedious) to extract all the liquid.  Return liquid to the pot.

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp hot curry powder

2 5.5oz cans tomato paste

Add sugar and curry powder to the liquid and bring to a boil.  Boil until the volume reduces by about half and the liquid is close to the consistency of commercial ketchup (it will be a bit runnier).  Add tomato paste and simmer a few minutes longer.  Also, prepare your jars, lids and canner.

Ladle hot ketchup into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe rim, add seals and rings, finger-tight.  Place into hot water canner, process for 15 minutes.

It's got a strong flavour, so if you're expecting Heinz, don't bother.  It's got some heat, but really only enough to warm up your mouth a bit, you won't be sweating.  Also, it's best to do this one with your windows open.  The curry, vinegar and cooking tomatoes really stinks the place up.  I have an "odor eliminator candle"  going right now (thanks Marion!).