How to prepare tomato ketchup ?

Tomato ketchup is one of the most popular food accompaniments across the world and is produced with different variations in the recipes. The main ingredients of tomato ketchup are Tomatoes, Spices, Sugar, Salt and Vinegar. The recipe varies with the region and in India sugar is a preferred ingredient as most Indians like sweet version.

Raw materials

Fresh Tomatoes are converted into juice (4-5 degree Brix) and used as a base or the ketchup can be made from Tomato paste which has 36-38 degree Brix. Small and medium enterprises use fresh tomatoes and most large operators use paste as it is easier to handle the large volume.

Juice is extracted using ripe tomatoes, ensuring uniformity of colour and seeds and skin are separated using a sieve/pulper.

Depending upon the solids in tomatoes, the juice needs to be standardized per batch and ingredients added accordingly.

Typical Receipe for Ketchup using Fresh Juice

Tomato Juice	120 kg
Sugar	8 kg
Salt	1 kg
Freshly chopped onions	1 kg
Acetic Acid (glacial)	400 ml.
Red chilli powder	60 gms
Cloves (headless)	40 gms
Cinnamon	40 gms
Cardamom	40 gms
Cumin	40 gms
Black pepper	40 gms
Sodium Benzoate at 750 ppm of ketchup	30 gms

It is to be noted that this is an indicative recipe and there is a lot to this simple product in terms colour, flavour, texture and mouth feel which comes with perfection and standardization of ingredients, recipe or process. Spice combination varies with the region.

Process

The typical process includes concentration of juice, mixing of ingredients (directly or tying in muslin bag and boiling) and bringing the whole mass to boil before filling in the bottles. Each commercial establishment has its own recipe and process which makes their product unique. Bottling and labelling