TOMATO STEW

Tomato Stew is a stew used to prepare Jollof Rice, Coconut Rice, Rice & Beans, etc. It is advisable to prepare a large quantity of the tomato stew and store in the freezer. This makes cooking Jollof Rice recipes or the Coconut Rice  recipe so easy. Tomato stew does not have any seasoning and other ingredients because it is just a base. 

Ingredients

*    Fresh Plum Tomatoes  – 1.5kg 

*    Tinned tomato paste: 600g (or watery tinned Tomato Puree: 1.2kg) 

*    Vegetable Oil:

*    Onions 1 to 2 medium bulbs 

Preparation

*   Wash and blend the fresh plum tomatoes.

*   Cut the onions into small pieces. 

*   Pour the fresh tomato blend into a pot and cook at high heat till almost all the water has dried. If you have the watery tinned/boxed tomato puree, add these to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook till the water in the tomato puree have dried as much as possible. 

*   Add the vegetable oil and the chopped onions. 

*   Cook at very low heat and stir at short intervals till the oil has completely separated from the tomato puree. The tomato puree will also have streaks of oil, unlike when you first added the oil and it was a smooth mix of the tomato puree and oil. Taste the fried tomato puree to make sure that the raw tomato taste is gone. With time and experience, you can even tell that the tomato puree is well fried from the aroma alone. 

*   If you are okay with the taste and you are sure that all the water has dried as much as possible, pour out the excess vegetable oil like 

*   If you are not using it immediately, leave to cool down, dish in containers and store in the freezer.