Homemade brown sauce
Learn to make homemade brown sauce with our easy recipe. Your bacon sandwiches are going to love it…
Big flavours: This amped up brown sauce is even fruitier and spicier than the shop-bought stuff. It contains apples, tomatoes and orange juice, as well as dried fruit such as dates and apricots for rich sweetness, and tamarind for that signature sour tang.
Spice it up: A medley of spices adds powerful earthy, woody and floral notes. Toasting the spices to boost their aromas is what really elevates a homemade version of the sauce.
Make it your own: “After studying many recipes, I discovered the beauty of the sauce is in its variety of ingredients,” says delicious. food producer, Pollyanna Coupland. “There are some constants, such as tamarind, malt vinegar, tomatoes and apples, but the mixture of spices and fruit can be adapted to your taste. Don’t like dates? Try figs instead. Prefer more heat? Add some chilli flakes. As the sauce cooks it develops layers of flavour, which makes it a forgiving playground for experimentation.”
Browse more brilliant homemade condiment recipes, including mayo, ketchup and salad cream.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 cloves
- 10 black peppercorns
- 8 allspice berries
- 1 star anise
- 2½ tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- Pinch ground mace
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 granny smith apples, peeled and coarsely grated
- 6 vine tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped [see Be A Better Cook]
- 150g pitted dates, chopped
- 80g dried apricots, chopped
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- 3 tbsp black treacle
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 125ml malt vinegar
- Juice ½ orange
Specialist kit
- High-power blender
Method
- Put a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat, add the oil, then add the onion with a good pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Meanwhile, toast the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, allspice and star anise in a hot dry pan for 30-40 seconds until fragrant, then transfer to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste to the onion and stir for a minute, then add the spice powder along with the ground mace and bay leaf. Stir for a further minute before adding the apples, tomatoes, dates and apricots. Cook for 5 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients and stir well, then simmer for 40-45 minutes until the mixture has thickened but is still loose enough to blend (give it a regular stir to ensure it doesn’t catch).
- Leave to cool a little, then blend until very smooth – leave the blender running for 5 minutes. Taste and check the seasoning – it shouldn’t need much more salt as the soy and Worcestershire sauce will have reduced down to give a more concentrated salty flavour. Store in sterilised jars or bottles (see FAQ).
FAQs
Unopened, the sauce will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months (possibly much longer). Once opened, keep in the fridge and use within 3 weeks.
The tomatoes must be peeled and deseeded to get a smooth sauce. To do this, use a paring knife to carve out the little green bit (calyx) and make a tiny cross on the opposite end. Put in boiling water for 30 seconds, then plunge into iced water. Carefully peel the skin away, then rinse, quarter and remove the seeds.
Switching Worcestershire sauce with Henderson’s relish and soy sauce with tamari will make the sauce vegan and gluten free. Tamari is slightly saltier than soy sauce, though, so keep an eye on the seasoning.
Nutrition
- 13kcals Calories
- trace (trace saturated Fat
- trace Protein
- 2.6g (2.2g sugars) Carbs
- trace Fibre
- 0.1g Salt
Leave a comment, question or tip