Barbecue sauce

Recipe

Barbecue sauce

Makes about 750 ml
Serves 10

Recipe developed for Cooking from the heart SA, Pharma Dynamics

A homemade sauce is much healthier than a shop-bought version as you know exactly what’s going into it. If you’ve been following me you would know my mantra ‘Homemade is best!’ Try my homemade, barbecue sauce recipe. It’s thick, hearty and super versatile. Use it as a sauce served with almost any meat. It’s delicious with mealie pap and just the sauce with boerewors or on a boerie roll. You can even use it as a base to cook chicken portions in. In Afrikaans some will refer to this as a tamatiesmoor and it’s indeed very popular as part of a braai menu. You can even try it to accompany other meat or vegetable dishes. It will be great with mushrooms, brinjal or baby marrow. Whether you call it barbecue or BBQ sauce, you should definitely add this recipe to your repertoire.

Ingredients

2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tbsp (30 ml) finely grated fresh ginger or 1 tsp (5 ml) ground ginger

1 tsp (5 ml) ground coriander

1 x 50 g sachet tomato paste

1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes

⅓ cup (80 ml) strong Rooibos tea, water or apple juice

¼ cup (60 ml) tomato sauce (see tip)

¼ cup (60 ml) chutney (see tip)

2 tsp (10 ml) dried mixed herbs

2 tsp (10 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice

2 tsp (10 ml) finely grated lemon rind

1 tbsp (15 ml) mild mustard or 1 tsp (5 ml) dried mustard powder

black pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil over a medium heat in a saucepan. Fry onions for a few minutes until soft. Add garlic and ginger and fry for another few minutes.
2. Stir coriander and tomato paste into onions and mix well. Add tomatoes, rinse tin with liquid and add to ingredients in saucepan.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer without lid for 10-15 minutes or until thickened. Stir often.
4. Season with more lemon juice and pepper if necessary.
5. Use to marinate meat, before being braaied. Or serve as a sauce to accompany the meat and side dishes.

Tips

1. Chakalaka: fry 1 carrot, coarsely grated and ½ red or green pepper, chopped, with the onions and add 1 tsp (5 ml) mild curry powder with the coriander.
2. The sauce will last for 2 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container or sterilised glass jar.
3. When buying sauces like chutney or tomato sauce, make sure to choose a good quality option that is lower in salt and sugar.
4. If you prefer a smoother barbecue sauce, blend the cooked sauce with a hand blender.

Image by Adel Ferreira Photography.