Snack Stand · Sliced Sausage

Currywurst

Name: Currywurst recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: For the sauce: 1 tablespoon neutral oil, 1 small onion (about 80 g), very finely chopped, 1 tablespoon tomato purée, 2 teaspoons mild curry powder, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 200 g (¾ cup) tomato ketchup, 100 ml (about ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon) water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, a pinch of salt, black pepper; For the sausages: 4 large raw bratwurst-style pork sausages (about 150 g each), 1 tablespoon oil, extra curry powder for dusting (about 2 teaspoons); For the fries: 800 g floury or all-purpose potatoes, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt

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Herta Heuwer registered a patent for her sauce, called Chillup, in 1959, and a memorial plaque marks the site of her stand in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Currywurst is a grilled or fried pork sausage, sliced into bite-sized pieces and doused in curry-spiced ketchup sauce, usually served on a paper tray with fries or a bread roll and a small wooden fork.

Why it's made this way: It was invented in 1949 by Berlin snack-bar owner Herta Heuwer, who mixed ketchup and curry powder obtained from British soldiers into a sauce and poured it over grilled sausage for workers rebuilding the postwar city; the recipe was popular enough that she later patented it.

What is Currywurst?

Currywurst is a pork sausage, usually fried or grilled, sliced into bite-sized pieces and covered in a warm sauce of tomato and curry spices, then dusted with more curry powder. It is typically served on a paper tray with chips or a bread roll and a small wooden fork, and it is sold at snack stands across Germany, especially in Berlin.

Herta Heuwer, who ran a snack stand in Berlin, is the person most often credited with inventing it in 1949, though a rival story places its invention in Hamburg. Whoever was first, it became a postwar classic and is still a standard late-night and lunchtime snack.

How to make currywurst with homemade curry sauce and oven fries

Serves 4 · prep 15 min · cook 40 min

Ingredients

For the sauce: 1 tablespoon neutral oil, 1 small onion (about 80 g), very finely chopped, 1 tablespoon tomato purée, 2 teaspoons mild curry powder, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 200 g (¾ cup) tomato ketchup, 100 ml (about ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon) water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, a pinch of salt, black pepper
For the sausages: 4 large raw bratwurst-style pork sausages (about 150 g each), 1 tablespoon oil, extra curry powder for dusting (about 2 teaspoons)
For the fries: 800 g floury or all-purpose potatoes, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt

Method

Heat the oven to 220 °C (200 °C fan, gas 7). Peel the potatoes if you like, cut them into 1 cm sticks and rinse them in cold water. Dry them very well, toss with the 2 tablespoons oil and the salt, and spread out in a single layer over two baking trays so they roast rather than steam.
Roast the fries for 30–35 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp at the edges.
Meanwhile make the sauce: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft but not brown. Stir in the tomato purée, curry powder and paprika and cook for 1 minute.
Add the ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt. Simmer gently for 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until slightly thickened. Blend until smooth with a stick blender, and add pepper and a little more sugar or vinegar to taste. It makes about 350 ml, enough for 4 portions.
Cook the sausages: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the sausages, turning often, for 12–15 minutes until browned all over. Raw pork sausages must reach an internal temperature of 71 °C (160 °F), and the juices should run clear with no pink inside. Cut one open to check if you have no thermometer.
Slice the sausages into 1.5 cm pieces, pile onto plates with the fries, pour over the hot sauce and dust with the extra curry powder.

Tips

Keep the heat at medium. High heat splits and burns the skin before the middle cooks through.
A longer simmer gives a smoother, deeper sauce. Blend it for the smooth stand-style texture.
Use the mildest curry powder you can find at first. Heat can be added at the end with a pinch of cayenne or chilli flakes.
Make the sauce a day ahead if you like. It keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge and reheats well.

Regional versions

Currywurst is often sold as 'mit Pommes' (with fries) or 'mit Brötchen' (with a bread roll), and many stands offer the sauce mild or spicy.
A skinless sausage (ohne Darm) is also used at some stands.
A precooked sausage can be used for speed. Fry it until browned and piping hot all the way through.