Currywurst (German-Style Curry Sausage)

This sausage dish has become common in many parts of Germany, but whether that popularity has carried into other German areas outside of Germany, like Austria, much of Switzerland, or some other areas in western Europe, I don't know. The sausages are commonly served as part of the menu in many fast food places (called: "Schnellimbisse," the plural form in German) in Germany, and they are very common in Berlin, but I found them easily in Frankfurt years ago. Perhaps nearly 35 years ago, a German friend of mine, originally from Düsseldorf, told me that the places in his area sold the sausages whole, then put ketchup over them, then sprinkled on curry powder and finished with a dusting of paprika, which was similar to how we sold them at a German-style Schnellimbiss I once owned, but we put them into sausage rolls, American style. In Frankfurt, and I believe Wiesbaden, I found some places in the 1980s that sold the sausages whole, but most places sliced them, then squirted on the sauce, which already included the curry (and maybe paprika). They are commonly served with French fries* and a roll (German: a "Brötchen," literally a "small or little bread," very much like a Kaiser roll) in Germany. Stores there also sell packages of mix for the sauce, or even already made sauce. Of course, there are a variety of recipes for the sauce, with all sorts of ingredients being added in some, including applesauce! This is my own version, which is more along the lines of the sauces I had in Berlin, Wiesbaden, and especially Frankfurt.

Ingredients:

1  15 ounce can tomato sauce
4 tablespoons thick ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 heaping tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons curry powder, hot or mild (or some of both)
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon hot paprika (typically most "hot" brands of paprika are not very "hot")
8 to 10 red or white bratwurst, the already cooked variety or raw 

Begin preparing the sausages according to the instructions on the package(s) of the type and brand you buy. In a sauce pan, heat the oil over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook for about one minute, then add the garlic. Cook for just another minute of two, just to soften the onion and garlic. Add all of the other ingredients, stirring well to mix. Let cook over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, or longer, if you want to let the sauce cook down a little to thicken it more. When the sausages are done, slice them per serving, then spoon on some of the curry sauce. You could also put individual sausages on sausage rolls and top with some of the sauce.

* German uses the French term for French fries, "Pommes Frites," and there was a Schnellimbiss in Frankfurt that went by the name (although I believe they used the shorter form "Pommes Frit" or "Pom Frit"). It was on Münchner Strasse, not far from the main train station, the Hauptbahnhof. They too sold Currywurst. It was a very busy little place, and you could go inside or go to a window from the sidewalk. All such places sell beer in Germany and, unless the laws have changed, which I doubt, drinking in public was not against the law. Anyway, the place did a great business well into the middle of the night .. ahh, that's what people told me. 

I had the Currywurst sliced, then topped with sauce, and served with French fries and a Kaiser roll. 

WORD HISTORY:
Case (Casing)-This word, very distantly related to "have," and meaning, "a box, a receptacle, a cover" (the last also especially true with its derived form "casing"), goes back to Indo European "kahp," which had the notion, "to seize, to take hold of, to take into possession." This gave Latin the verb "capere," which meant, "to take by force, to seize, to capture, to take something in (either physically or mentally)." This then gave Latin the noun "capsa," meaning, "bookcase;" that is, "a box that takes in books." The meaning developed beyond a place for books to, "box, chest, place for storing items," and it was taken on by Old French, a Latin-based language, as "chasse," with essentially the same meanings. The Old North French dialect had it as "casse," which was borrowed into English, initially as "cas" in the 1300s. As large guns developed, the shell coverings had the term "casing" used for them, as did bullets later.