Topic: increasing the amount of tomato puree

[joshallen2k]

860 gram tins... right there is one of my biggest issues with tomato paste, White Tower or otherwise. A curry needs a teaspoon or so as an ingredient. Once opened, the paste is only good in the fridge for a few days. I find I waste so much of the stuff. Unless I know I will be making another curry within a couple of days, I usually throw the whole tin out (minus a teaspoon!)

Anyone have a way to keep it longer lasting?

I wish it was like Wasabi - in a tube, and has a long life in the fridge...

-- Josh

[Tamala]

Anyone have a way to keep it longer lasting?

Pour it into an ice cube tray, say teaspoon or tablespoon sized chunks, and freeze it.  Then transfer the chunks to a sealable freezer bag.  You can take out as much as you want to use.  It will defrost in no time especially aided by a quick zap from the microwave. 

You can do the same with many things....garlic, ginger, onions, capsicums, coriander, chillis, parsely, basil.....

Saves on waste and is always available in handy sized chunks.  Youd be hard pushed to tell the difference from fresh.

The other option is to buy the sachets which are normally 2 tablespoons.

[joshallen2k]

Good call! I will try that. Thanks.

-- Josh

[JerryM]

agree that freezing works - i've put a whole jar in the freezer before now.

we buy the stuff in jars and it keeps for at least 2 weeks in the fridge.

if the tower or Kyknos (i pretty sure tower is greek) work out (which i expect) - i will transfer them to a jar as soon as i open.

i must use a lot more tom puree than Josh though - i can almost empty a 310g jar in night if i'm doing a few curries (2 tbsp per portion doesn't go far).

[Derek Dansak]

Thanks haldi for the link. i made that base before , but did not know there was a recipe to go with it. i look forward to trying the two together this saturday. That base is really sweet and edible on its own, nice one. and better still its from a bir! good effort mate

[Derek Dansak]

Thanks also to everyone else for the feedback. i think i will stick to the 1 or 2 tbs for now. i  might try adding a chunk of real tomato though. how daring! 

[JerryM]

Haldi/DD,

the earlier link to the "I went to the cooking lesson" post i have read before. how does the base stack up compared to a real BIR base. I've not made this base and looking at how different it is i feel i should have a go. it was only the date stamp that put me off.

Adding fresh toms after the base has been added is very good for most curries. For me u can?t use fresh in place of the tom puree though.

[Derek Dansak]

its a good base for korma and probably ctm if i seem to remember. i bet it works well with the recipe that goes with it. i will try that soon. How much real tomato (not puree) do you recommend adding to the curry for eg a rogan josh or boona type affair? thats something i keep meaning to experiment with. would around 1 tsp of puree and 1 whole tom in slices be right per dish?   

[JerryM]

Derek,

i tend to stick to the same amount of tom puree in every dish - 2 tbsp at the mo (per 200ml portion). the fresh tomato is just an extra for me like onion and green pepper - i put 1/2 small tom cut in 10m chunks in most dishes but increase to 1 tom for rogan josh. i add the chopped tom after the base has gone in.

[Derek Dansak]

Thanks for the info guys. Its always good to hear whats going on in other peoples frying pans! if you get my drift