Anyone that has been to a German city, particularly Berlin, will know that you can’t walk a block without finding an Imbiss (food stand or cart) or pub, that serves Currywurst. It is the best fast food, that only requires a plastic toothpick to eat. And it is also super easy to make at home.
To make this authentic in appearance and taste, knockwurst is the best to use. However, I have made it with hot dogs to great effect. As a German vegetarian recipe option, why not try soy dogs? The typical side dish to serve this with is french fries, or Pommes. I make my own, but you could also buy bagged for an even quicker meal.
Difficulty: easy.
Preparation Time: 35 minutes.
Portions: 4.
Ingredients:
- 1 package of knockwurst (5 links) OR 1 package of hot dogs
- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
- 2 8-ounce cans of tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Preparation:
- Place butter or margarine in medium saucepan and melt over medium heat.
- Slice links in rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Place rounds into pan and brown, stirring often.
- Stir in sauce. Add in all seasonings and mix well.
- Lower heat to medium-low, cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Check flavor and add curry at your discretion. Lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes more.
- Serve with french fries on the side, adding enough sauce to dip fries. You may also sprinkle some curry onto the wurst for garnish.
This year the Currywurst is celebrating its 60th birthday! It was invented in Berlin (of course) in 1949. And every year in Berlin alone 70 million of them get eaten!
An interesting writeup (in German) can be found here:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/521/483962/text/
Also interesting: A recent survey established the Germans’ favorite fast food options (in order of popularity):
1. Pizza (more Italian-style than American-style)
2. Belegtes Brötchen (German rolls with cold cuts)
3. Rotisserie Chicken
4. Bratwurst
5. Currywurst
6. Fischbrötchen (German roll with pickled, smoked or fried fish)
7. Hamburger
8. Döner Kebap
These results are across Germany. One will find regional preferences, such as #6 for northern Germany, #5 for Berlin, and so on.
I came across this site from Bing and found this post quite delicious!
Not sure why this is listed under Vegetarian. Probably an oversight?
You are right! Thank you for catching that, Ursula. However, you COULD make it vegetarian by using soy dogs. 🙂
Try it with Tofurky beer brats. It’s vegetarian (vegan) and totally amazing. One of my favorite foods since travels in Germany, perfect substitue after going vegan. I just need to find laugen brotchen! (pretzel bread roll)
This one I didn’t have to beg my kids to eat! haha After reading the blog, I only used 1 can of tomato sauce and then added about 1/2 a can full of Heinz Ketchup. I added WAYYY more than a pinch of paprika and probably a good 2 tablespoons of curry. I let it all simmer on the stove around 20 mins and it was SO good. My kids gobbled it up and begged for more. I’ll be making 2 lbs next time!
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Looking forward to trying this, though I wouldn’t settle for hotdogs! The ‘knack’ is part of the allure. Usingers makes a pretty good knackwurst if you can find it.