The period from December to mid-February is a time when tomatoes are relatively cheap and in plenty supply in the major markets around Nigeria.
Tomatoes are used in many households to prepare paste and stews for delicacies like white rice, jollof rice, white yam, porridge, soups and many others meals. If you are a tomato lover you might want to extend your enjoyment of sumptuous tomato stews beyond the season of plenty into the season when it is in short supply.
You can preserve your blended tomatoes to last for more than a month without putting it in a refrigerator or warming it regularly by following the steps below:
- Wash your fresh tomatoes to your taste.
- Pour it in a pot and add little salt and water. Steam it for just three minutes.
- Remove all tomatoes from water and blend it.
- Boil your blended tomatoes to allow its water content to evaporate to your taste. (It is advisable to let it thicken.)
- Pour the tomato paste into a container made of glass which you can cover very well (e.g. an empty mayonnaise glass container with cover). Close the glass container very well.
- Put your tomato paste in covered glass container inside a pot with little water and heat for two minutes to warm the glass container and its content.
- Now you can store your tomato paste wherever you want.
You are advised to consume your tomato paste within 6 weeks.
This method comes in handy if you want to buy tomato in bulk cheaply and consume it little by little over 6 weeks.
Oh, you can also order your smoked and dried catfish from Divine Fish Farm which will also retain its great taste and nutritional value after 6 weeks. Dried catfish gives stews a distinct traditional taste.
Thank you.
Email: info@divinefish.com.ng, Phone: +234-8077776861, Website: www.divinefish.com.ng
Nice article…… and keep up thé great work
Is it true that one can find tomatoes and peppers at the cheapest rate at Mile 12 Market, Lagos?
Yes Vincent. You can find find tomatoes and peppers at relatively cheap rates at Mile 12 Market, Lagos because that is where the trucks that convey them from places like northern Nigeria, Oyo State and even Benin Republic come to deliver them for the Lagos population.
But Mile 12 Market is not the only place in Lagos that these trucks deliver tomatoes and peppers to. They also deliver them at Ile-Epo market, Abule Egba, Lagos (Along Lagos – Abeokuta Express Way) and this means you can find them there at relatively cheap prices too.
thankyou very much for this, I find it really helpful
I am happy that you found our write-up on how to preserve blended tomatoes useful. Thank you Blessing.
Wouldn’t continuous opening make it mold..
Do I hv to add oil on the surface after taking scoops out of the jars
To keep the stored tomato paste preserved for weeks the jar should remain sealed.
When you decide to open the jar of preserved tomato paste you should consume it within days or else it would deteriorate because air has been let into the jar.
Can I ise the method to preserve the one I fried a little?
Yes you can. But make sure the tomato paste it thick.
Hello, good day.
Find the article useful tnks for sharing. I have been preserving my tomatoes this way, but my question here is
must it be preserved in glass jar?
Can I use new plastic jar that has a good cover?
I want to try using plastic jar.
Thank you
Dear Bilkisu,
No it must not be a glass jar. It is just that glass is unreactive with the tomato paste. You can use a plastic container with good cover and ensure it is air-tight.
So yes you can go ahead and use a plastic jar.
Please ma, is there any other step I can take for it not to deteriorate even after continuous opening? I heard applying oil on the surface works, how true is dis?
The point of preserving the tomatoes is to keep it until you are ready to consume it. Once you open the container you should be ready to consume the stored tomato paste within a day or two. Or, you must store in a refrigerator once you open the stored tomato paste.
Applying oil to the surface of the tomato paste in the container ensures that air does not enter into the tomato paste under the oil film.
However, once you open the lid of the container where you stored your paste you let air into the paste. So, opening the lid of the container when you are not ready to consume the tomato paste is not advised.
Why does refrigerated blend soak so much oil? I am really having a bad experience with it. Bought a whole basket at Ile-epo to last me 3 months. Each time I use a package, it soaks a lot of oil and ends up not frying well
Are the packages of your refrigerated blend air-tight?