The dish to eat in Berlin · Germany

Currywurst

Name: Berlin currywurst with curry ketchup
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Germany
Ingredients: For the sauce: 1 tbsp oil, 1 small onion grated, 1 garlic clove grated, 2 tbsp mild curry powder plus more for dusting, 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1 1/2 cups (360 g) ketchup, 1/2 cup (120 g) tomato passata, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp honey or sugar, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, 1/2 tsp salt; 4 to 6 bratwurst or Berlin-style Brühwurst (fine pork sausages); 1 tbsp oil; Fries, to serve (frozen are fine); Mayonnaise, to serve

Photo: Richard Mischau, Britta Mischau, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source

Sliced fried sausage drowned in curry-spiced ketchup, dusted with curry powder and served with fries.

Herta Heuwer invented currywurst at her Berlin snack stand in 1949, mixing ketchup and curry powder she got from British soldiers. Berliners eat 70 million a year, standing at an Imbiss, with or without skin (mit or ohne Darm).

Where to eat it Cook it at home

Where to eat it: the best three in Berlin

Curry 36
Mehringdamm, Kreuzberg
Order: Currywurst ohne Darm with fries (Pommes) and mayo
The Kreuzberg stand with lines late into the night.
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Konnopke's Imbiss
Under the U-Bahn at Eberswalder Strasse, Prenzlauer Berg
Order: Currywurst ohne Darm with their own sauce
Run by the same family since 1930, under the elevated train tracks.
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Witty's
Wittenbergplatz, Schöneberg
Order: Organic currywurst with Belgian-style fries
An organic Imbiss next to the KaDeWe department store.
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All three are on Chef Amazing’s list The best currywurst in Berlin, which you can save and take with you.

Cook it at home: Berlin currywurst with curry ketchup

Serves 4Time 45 min

The sauce is the dish: a quick, spiced ketchup of tomato, onion, curry powder and a little smoked paprika. The sausage is fried until browned, sliced, and buried under it.

Pans and tools

Saucepan
Skillet
Blender or stick blender
Small sieve

You’ll need

For the sauce: 1 tbsp oil, 1 small onion grated, 1 garlic clove grated, 2 tbsp mild curry powder plus more for dusting, 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1 1/2 cups (360 g) ketchup, 1/2 cup (120 g) tomato passata, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp honey or sugar, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, 1/2 tsp salt
4 to 6 bratwurst or Berlin-style Brühwurst (fine pork sausages)
1 tbsp oil
Fries, to serve (frozen are fine)
Mayonnaise, to serve

Steps

Sauce: heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, curry powder, paprika and cayenne and stir 1 minute until it smells toasty.
Add the ketchup, passata, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire, water and salt. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring, until thick and glossy. Blend smooth for the Imbiss texture. Keep warm.
Cook the fries.
Fry the sausages in the oil over medium heat, turning, 10 to 12 minutes until browned all over and cooked through.
Slice each sausage into 1/2-inch (1.5 cm) pieces and put them on a paper tray or plate.
Spoon plenty of hot sauce over, then dust with curry powder through a small sieve. Serve with fries, mayo on the side, and a small wooden fork.

Chef’s tips

Use mild curry powder for the sauce and a hotter one for the dusting if you like heat.

The sauce keeps a week in the fridge.

'Ohne Darm' (skinless) is the East Berlin style; the West ate it with skin.

Contains: Fish (Worcestershire); may contain mustard, celery and wheat in the sausage.

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