Currywurst
Berlin's street-food classic: sliced bratwurst under a hot, spiced tomato sauce and a heavy dusting of curry powder. The sauce is the whole dish and it isn't ketchup with curry stirred in — tomato paste and spices are fried in fat first, then simmered down until they coat the sausage.
Ingredients
- 4 pcsbratwurst
- 70 gtomato paste
- 15 gcurry powder
- 5 gsmoked paprika
- 1 pcsonion
- 150 mlapple juice
- 20 mlred wine vinegar
- 15 gsugar
- 20 mlvegetable oil
- 2 gblack pepper
Method
- Finely dice the onion and cook it in half the oil over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Don't let it colour — you want sweetness, not roast flavour.
- Add the tomato paste, the smoked paprika, and half the curry powder. Fry them in the fat for a minute or two, stirring, until the paste darkens and smells toasted. This step is what separates a real curry sauce from ketchup.
- Pour in the apple juice and the red wine vinegar, add the sugar and a pinch of salt, and stir to loosen everything from the base of the pan.
- Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and balance it: it should be sweet, sour, and lightly spiced all at once. Blend it smooth if you want the classic stand texture.
- Meanwhile, fry the bratwurst in the rest of the oil over medium-high heat, turning, until browned all over and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Cut the sausages into bite-sized rounds. In Berlin they're cut before saucing, often from a skinless sausage so the pieces soak up more of the sauce.
- Pile the sausage into bowls, spoon the hot sauce over, and dust generously with the remaining curry powder. Serve at once with fries or a bread roll.
FAQ
A plain pork bratwurst. Berlin stands often use a skinless sausage, which lets the cut pieces absorb more sauce; the Ruhr region tends to keep the casing for snap. Either is authentic — avoid heavily smoked or herb-heavy sausages, which fight the curry.
No, and that shortcut is why home versions taste thin. Real curry sauce is built by frying tomato paste and spices in fat, then simmering with juice, vinegar, and sugar until it thickens. Ketchup is already finished and sweetened, so nothing further develops.
Yes — use a hot curry powder, or add cayenne or chili flakes with the tomato paste so the heat cooks into the sauce. German stands often let you choose a heat level, so serving extra chili on the side works too.
It's better the next day, once the spices have settled. It keeps about a week in the fridge and freezes well, so a double batch is worth making. Reheat gently and loosen with a splash of water if it has tightened.
Fries with mayonnaise and ketchup (Pommes rot-weiß) or a plain bread roll to wipe the plate. Both exist to deal with the sauce, which is the point of the dish, so make more of it than you think you need.
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