Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe

Red Enchilada Sauce is a Mexican condiment that is super easy, quick and loaded with tons of flavors. It always turns out way more delicious than the store bought canned ones. Once you make this sauce, you wont ever buy the canned stuff. Best part is you can customize the sauce to your taste and spice level. You can refrigerate it for up to a week or freeze it for later use. Having this sauce on hand makes meals simple and quick. Although its more popular with Enchiladas there are a quite a few recipes for which this sauce can be used. so stay tuned. 
There are many versions of making enchilada sauce but for today's post I'll be sharing my recipe using tomato puree. Its as easy as combining all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmering it. The flour in this recipe acts a thickening agent and holds and binds the sauce together. Some prefer the sauce thick and some not. So adjust fluid consistency as per liking. Vegetable or chicken stock can be used to thin the sauce instead of water which definitely add lot of flavor and nutritional goodness to this sauce. I've used chili powder for heat but if you like it extra spicy use a combination of cayenne and chili powder. 

Now to the recipe...

Ingredients:
1-15 oz can tomato sauce/puree (approximately 2 cups)
1-2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dry oregano
½ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder (or to taste)
½ to 1 teaspoon salt  (or to taste)
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
2-3 cups water or vegetable/chicken stock

Method:

In a pot add oil and once hot add the flour and keep mixing until light golden in color. Then add the tomato sauce and the spices like garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, red chilli powder salt and pepper. Mix well. Add 2 cups of water or veg/chicken stock. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10-15 mins or until the sauce thickens. If you feel the sauce is too thick add one more cup of water and simmer for 5-10 mins more. Cool completely and refrigerate for up to a week in fridge or freeze and later use. 

Notes: 

• You can make this sauce using regular tomatoes too although the color and taste may differ slightly. Which would still taste great. 
• Take 5-6 medium sized tomatoes (approximately a kg) and add them to a a pot/sauce pan with boiling water. Cook till the tomatoes turn soft and the skin cracks/peels. Drain the water and allow the tomatoes to cool. Now remove the skin which should come off easily. Cut off the top (head) of the tomato and roughly chop them. Blend them till you get a smooth puree. You can strain the puree if you like add as is. 
• You can also use tomato paste instead of tomato puree/sauce. 
• If you like your sauce extra spicy use a combination of cayenne and chili powder.