Tomato Salsa

EVENT: FOODIE’S REDOING OLD POSTS #2

Old posts just get lost in the wide wide wide web unless they are very popular. Renu who blog’s at Cook with Renu has started a Facebook Group called Foodies Redoing Old Posts where every two weeks we can redo our old posts and share it on the group. What’s the advantage of doing this? Well, it gives us the opportunity to improve the write up, update photos and get comments. I’ve got so many old posts that need updating especially where the photos are concerned. This group will definitely give me the ‘push’ to prepare the dishes again for better photos. For the second redo posts I’m sharing my basic tomato salsa recipes with better photos and better write up.

It is interesting how Mexican and Indian Cuisine resemble in some ways. Take the basic tomato salsa, Indian cuisine has its version in the form of chutneys, either as a coarse or smooth paste. The first time I tasted salsa was in UK  when I visited my sister. They had just been on a holiday to US and her husband brought back a huge bottle of salsa. Though I found it a bit vinegary, it tasted good with crisp (chips).

So what is Salsa?

Salsa is usually a tomato based sauce or dip with added ingredients like onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeño. The sauce or tip can be mild to hot. The sauce or dip can be coarse or smooth.  Depending on the dish its to be served with, the salsa can be uncooked or cooked. Usually, if its used as a dip its not cooked. However, if you’re serving it with enchiladas, burrito, chimichanga, flautas etc, it can be cooked.

As I mentioned above ready made salsa are taste acidic because of the vinegar and also they have a lot of additives. I prefer to make my own sauces whenever possible as its difficult to get them in the supermarkets in Kenya. Even if they are available, they tend to be expensive.

TOMATO SALSA
Makes about 2 cups

2 large tomatoes (approx 1 cup of chopped tomatoes)
1 cup tomato puree
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander or cilantro
2 tsp lemon juice /good quality vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
¼ tsp sugar
¼ –⅓ tsp salt
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder or paprika
½ tsp pepper powder
finely chopped green chillis or jalapeno (about a tsp)- according to your taste

1. To make fresh tomato puree, cut about 4 to 6 tomatoes into chunks. Put it in a pan with very little water. Let the tomatoes cook over low heat till they become soft. Puree in a blender. Sieve if you do not like the seeds and skin.
2. Put tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, green chilli and coriander in a blender. Process it just for a few seconds as you don’t want to puree the tomatoes and onion completely. 
3. Pour the salsa into a serving bowl. Add salt, pepper,sugar, lemon juice, cumin powder and red chilli powder. Mix well and serve.