Ingredients
1000 ml tomato ketchup - one of those in packet should fine
1 cup store bought bbq sauce* - preferably something with smoky in it’s name (optional)
1 cup chili sauce – time to clear all those not too tasty one
1 kg of onion – diced coarsely
10 cloves of garlic - smashed
3 green apple – skinned + coarsely grated
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup brown sugar – packed
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. mustard powder
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. herb of choice – I use rosemary if it’s for lamb, otherwise thyme/oregano or Italian mix is ok
1 cup of cola
2 cups of h2O
Salt to taste
Oil for sautéing
Steps
Heat oil. Sauté onion + garlic until translucent, add the grated green apple. Stir until apple is soft. Add bay leaves + all the dried herbs. Cook until aromatic, making sure they don’t stick to the pot.
Pour in the ketchup + sauce if you are using. Add vinegar + brown sugar. Mix well. Add water & salt. Cook until it boils.
Turn down the heat to a simmer, add cola. Gently simmer until the sauce thickens + does not taste very acidic anymore, occasionally stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pot, scraping the sides as you go. This usually takes about 1 ½ hours.
Correct the taste, adding more salt if required.
Remove from heat. You may want to remove excess oil at this point. Cool sauce.
Freeze for long time storage up to 3 months since that is a lot of sauce!
*if you happen to have liquid smoke in your ladder, lucky you, use it!
BBQ Ribs
Ribs should be at least 3 bone sized. Place ribs in a pot, fill with water until it’s barely covering the rib. Add ¼ cup of bbq sauce to every kg of ribs. Cook on high heat. Once boiling, turn to a simmer. Cover pot, cook until tender, depending on how much you are cooking, this can take anything from 2 hours to 4 hours. Remove meat from liquid, reserving some to add to the bbq sauce used for basting.
BBQ Chicken
Place cleaned chicken in a pot, barely cover with water. Add ¼ cup of bbq sauce to every kg of chicken. Cook on high heat. Once it reaches boiling stage, let it boil for about 3, then remove pot from heat. Leave chicken to cool down in the liquid, this way the meat won’t dry out + remain juicy.
To BBQ
Reheat bbq sauce. Add some stock left over from the boiled meat. Simmer until thick again.
Setup your grill. When the coal turns to ember, put on the meat, grilling until it sizzles + golden. Turn once. Baste with sauce. Repeat as many time you wish, I triple-baste.
Serve hot. Bon appetit.
