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Homemade Restaurant style Salsa

This delicious sauce is a Mexican salsa made with juicy tomatoes, red onions, and jalapenos (the spicier the better!!!) with a splash of vinegar or lime juice.They are normally served with a bowl of tortilla chips as a dip and used as a topping for most Mexican dishes like burritos, tacos, chimichangas etc.

Course Appetizer
Cuisine Mexican, tex mex
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 6 large juicy tomatoes vine ripened or country tomatoes
  • 1 large onion preferably red/purple onion
  • 3 to 4 green chilies or jalapenos
  • ½ teaspoon oregano flakes
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Wash and cut the tomatoes, onions and green chilies roughly into big chunks.

  2. Place them in a pressure pan or cooker with a little water. Add just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to up to ½ inch only to avoid any burning.

  3. Close the pan and cook until one whistle if using an Indian stove top pressure cooker.

  4. (If using an Instant Pot, pressure cook on "HIGH" for just 2 minutes).

  5. When the pressure drops, open the lid and allow to cool a little bit.

  6. We need to blend this, so it is better to cool it before we put it in the blender jar.

  7. If there is too much excess water, then drain and add to sauce after blending.

  8. Once it is cool enough, blend this in a blender or mixer to a coarse paste (or smooth if you prefer) without adding any water.

  9. Pour into a saucepan along with remaining water in the pressure pan. Do not add too much water as you the will need to thicken the sauce for a longer time to get the thickness preferred.

  10. Stir in the oregano, vinegar, sugar and salt to taste.

  11. You need a spicy, tangy, savory and well balanced flavor for the sauce.

  12. Mix well and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer on low till the desired thickness of the sauce or salsa (about 15 minutes).

  13. Adjust the amount of vinegar, sugar and salt to your taste.

  14. Cool and serve with tortilla chips, potato chips or any Mexican dish.

Recipe Notes

  • For a different flavor, you can add about ¼ cup of chopped coriander leaves or cilantro while cooking the sauce.
  • If you do not like the flavor of vinegar, you can add lemon or lime juice. I have tried both; our family prefers the flavor of vinegar in salsas.
  • Some people prefer cumin powder in the sauce. I do add this sometimes for an additional flavor.
  • Play around with the amount of vinegar, salt, sugar, chilies etc to achieve the perfect balance of sweet, salt, sour and spicy.
  • Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating!