German Currywurst with Tomato-Cumin Sauce

About This Recipe

Currywurst is Berlin's iconic street food, grilled or fried pork sausage sliced into bite-size pieces and doused in a ketchup-based sauce dusted with curry powder, invented by Herta Heuwer in 1949 when she got her hands on curry powder and Worcestershire sauce from British soldiers stationed in Berlin. The dish remains one of the most-eaten fast foods in Germany, sold at street stalls (Currywurst Buden) across the country. The sauce is really the whole point: a tomato base built with a good amount of cumin alongside the curry powder, simmered until it thickens slightly and the spices bloom. Getting the sausage right matters too, it should be well-charred on the outside from the grill before slicing, so the smoky char plays against the sweet-spiced sauce. Served simply with fries or a bread roll on the side and a heavy dusting of extra curry powder on top, currywurst is casual, fast, and unmistakably Berlin.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 8bratwurst or pork sausages
• 1.5 cupstomato ketchup
• 0.5 cupcrushed tomatoes
• 2 tbspcurry powder(divided)
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 1 tbspbrown sugar
• 1 tbspvegetable oil
• 1 cupfries(for serving, optional)
• 4bread rolls(for serving, optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the sauce

   In a saucepan, combine ketchup, crushed tomatoes, half the curry powder, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Simmer over low heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. 2

   Grill the sausages

   Heat oil in a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausages, turning, until well-charred and cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.

3. 3

   Slice the sausages

   Let sausages rest 2 minutes, then slice into bite-size rounds on a diagonal.

4. 4

   Combine

   Arrange sliced sausage on plates and spoon the warm curry-tomato sauce generously over the top.

5. 5

   Finish and serve

   Dust with the remaining curry powder. Serve immediately with fries or a bread roll on the side.

Variations

• •

  Use a mix of sweet and smoked paprika alongside the curry powder for a deeper, smokier sauce.

• •

  Make a vegetarian version with plant-based sausages, keeping the same sauce.

• •

  Serve chopped over fries (Currywurst Pommes) for the classic street-stall combo.

Storage

Refrigerate the sauce separately from the sausage up to 4 days. Reheat the sauce on the stove and grill or pan-fry fresh sausage rather than reheating already-sliced sausage, which dries out.

Frequently Asked Questions