Homemade Puree and Paste

You visit a grocery store and you there is a big section of homemade puree and paste. Tomato puree, ginger paste, garlic paste and many more!

Why use puree and paste?

1. Restaurant Style Gravies: These gravies are known for their texture. These are smooth and silky. If ground tomatoes are added or chopped garlic, chilies are added; the texture is gone for a toss. For perfect restaurant-style gravy, if is absolutely important to use velvety puree and fine paste.
2. Breakfast Recipes: I do not like very sharp flavors in any on my breakfast recipes. Therefore I don’t use chopped chilies or ginger etc. Instead, I add a hint of these by adding little ginger paste or chili paste. There are a number of breakfast recipes which indispensably call for the pastes. Khandvi recipe, khaman recipe, cheela recipes… paste works the best.
3. Better Texture: Tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chilies are the basics of Indian cuisine. Most of the gravy recipes call for these ingredients. If pureed tomatoes are used instead of ground ones, the texture of the dish is so much better. So even if you are not making any restaurant style recipe, use of puree and paste will make a remarkable difference in your dish.
4. Reduces Cooking Time: Tomato puree is prepared by cooking the tomato extract for a considerable time. Since one of the main basic ingredients is already cooked, the total cooking time of the dish reduces considerably. You can check it yourself, add ground tomatoes in oil and if takes much longer to release the oil as compared to the tomato puree.
5. Healthier Version: To make the tomato puree, its seeds and skin are removed. The seeds of tomatoes are said to be bad for health. Tomato puree is an effective way of removing those.
6. Economical: It is so much economical to prepare the puree and paste in the season when those veggies/fruits are available. For longer shelf life, these can be kept in a freezer and used for months to come. I always make enough mango puree when good quality mangoes are available at a reasonable price. Thereafter we enjoy our shakes even when the mangoes are super expensive.

Why Homemade?

I might list down a number of reasons as to why you should make these puree and paste at home and not buy from the store but the best way to understand the difference is by living it, I mean, by eating it (smile). Once you use the homemade product, you will know much better those are and you will not return to the store-bought ones. Still, I am penning down the reasons to convince you more:

1. Better taste: For homemade puree and paste, the ingredients are handpicked by you. And those are the best and therefore give you the best of products.
2. Healthier: It is needless to mention that the homemade stuff is better than the store-bought ones. No preservatives are used. And cooking is most hygienic and safe.
3. Customizable: The homemade purees and pastes can be customized as per your taste. For instance, you can add a few spices to your tomato puree, you can add in little vanilla to your coffee concentrate, etc.
4. Economical: This one should have topped the list because the cost of homemade puree and paste is so much less than the store-bought ones.
5. Easy and simple to make: It is so fuss-free to make the homemade versions of the store-bought stuff. One weekend, a couple of hours and your forthcoming weeks are sorted.

I would like to mention the collection of homemade masala on the blog. It has an array of Indian masala used in day to day cooking which can easily be prepared at home.

Here are the puree, paste, preserves you can and you should make at home:

Tomato Puree:

Tomato puree is the extract of tomatoes that are cooked to make a smooth, red and flavorful puree. The making of tomato puree includes an interesting step that is boiling the tomatoes and then giving them an ice water bath. This is called blanching. Blanching the tomatoes help them to retain their color and nutrition.

View the recipe here.

Ginger Garlic Paste:

Ginger Garlic Paste Recipe is a fine paste of garlic and ginger which makes our lives easy ;). A paste of Ginger Garlic is used in many gravies, appetizers, etc. The recipe also explains the method of preserving paste of ginger-garlic.

View the recipe here.

Garlic Butter:

Garlic butter is the butter with the perfect balance of buttery and garlicky flavors, making it such a mild yet flavorsome spread for many recipes such as garlic bread, garlic breadsticks, garlic pull-apart bread, etc. The best part about this recipe is the balance of flavors and the consistency of garlic butter.

View the recipe here. You might also like ginger chili paste.

Homemade Condensed Milk:

Homemade condensed milk recipe is milk and sugar cooked to smooth, thick and sweet mix. It is used to prepare many desserts, sweets etc. I also like adding a spoonful to my tea. Homemade Condensed Milk Recipe is a delicious yummy recipe.

View the recipe here. You might also like homemade mawa.

Coffee Concentrate:

The coffee concentrate is basically a combination of water, sugar, and coffee; sugar syrup and instant coffee powder to be precise, which helps in making coffee in no time without any efforts at all. Coffee concentrate can be used to make hot or cold coffee.

View the recipe here.

Pineapple Preserve:

Pineapple chunks cooked with sugar to increase its shelf life and make it readily available for a number of recipes is pineapple preserve. Good quality and ripened pineapples are not available throughout the year and those who love pineapple crave for it all the time, especially when it is not available.

View the recipe here.

Green Chili Paste:

One of the most appropriate ways of using and preserving green chilies is by making green chilli paste. It is very easy, simple and quick to make. And it comes very handily when required. There are plenty of recipes that call for green chili paste.

View the recipe here.

Colored Sugar:

Colored sugar is basically and obviously sugar in a different color. It is a very versatile ingredient. I generally use it on the cupcake icing, on the cookies, yogurt, fruits, etc. But before you decide to bake with the sugar i.e. sugar-coated cookies etc, do not risk the whole batch.

View the recipe here.

Simple Syrup:

It is a mixture of sugar and water which is cooked to increase the shelf life and is prepared to make our lives easier. Haha! Yes, with this simple syrup in the refrigerator, cold beverages can be prepared like a breeze, effortlessly and in no time.

View the recipe here.