Name: Quick Curry Ketchup
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 cup of Tomato Ketchup; 4 teaspoons of Curry Powder; 2 teaspoons of Sweet Paprika; 2 teaspoons of Worchester Sauce; 2 teaspoons of Mild Honey; 1 teaspoons of Chili Powder; 1 teaspoon of Water

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Ah yes, Curry Ketchup. Just as you’d think, it’s curry flavoured ketchup mixed with several other spices and it’s pure wonderful in my book.

If you’ve ever spent any time in Germany, or maybe have some German friends, you’ve likely been introduced this yummy condiment. If you haven’t, well then, I’m about to teach you how to make a fairly quick version that you can try without investing in a whole bottle. I don’t know about you but I’m not a fan of having rarely used condiments hanging around in my fridge door, so I want to know if I’ll like it before I buy it.

I’m pretty sure that most everyone has a bottle of tomato ketchup on hand and it’s probably Heinz. I know we do. Over in Germany, having curry ketchup around is about as common and it’s usually the Hela brand. If anyone favours a brand besides Hela, please share it with me just because I’m always interested in knowing things like that.

I currently have two bottles of Hela Curry Gewürz (Spice) Ketchup in our fridge door. One is “scharf” (or spicy), and one is “delikat” (or mild).

I prefer the spicy one over the mild because it just carries more of a flavour kick. When it comes to liking heat, or hot spiciness, I’m pretty middle of the road. For me, the spicy version of curry ketchup carries only a little extra heat and a lot more flavour. I hope that makes sense. Basically, if you don’t like spicy food at all, go for mild if you think you’ll want a bottle. If you don’t mind a wee bit of heat, go for the spicy version. Or, if you’re like my husband, who likes at least 4 stars with his Thai food, you won’t be able to detect the extra heat at all, so it won’t really matter which one you get!

For years I’ve been meaning how to learn how to make ketchup from scratch so I know exactly what goes into it. When I finally do, I plan on making a more in depth post on how to make curry ketchup from scratch as well. For now, I’m going to use tomato ketchup as a base for a much quicker version. Besides, sometimes it’s nice know the shortcuts too, right?

Alright, let’s get this curry ketchup party started!

Quick Curry Ketchup

Ingredients:

1 cup of Tomato Ketchup
4 teaspoons of Curry Powder
2 teaspoons of Sweet Paprika
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons of Mild Honey
1 teaspoons of Chili Powder
1 teaspoon of Water

Variation:

Replace 1/2 teaspoon of Sweet Paprika with 1/2 teaspoon of Hot Paprika if you want some extra heat. Using a little cayenne pepper would likely work too but I didn’t test that.

Combining:

The absolute quickest way to make the curry ketchup is to just add some curry powder. Emily Han over at The Kitchn (a fantastic blog you should follow if you don’t already) gives us a great recipe that uses a ratio of 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder to 1/4 cup of ketchup. This works really well but I wanted to see if I could get it a little closer to the Hela version that I adore.

My way takes a tiny bit of extra work because there are more ingredients. After that, it’s about putting them all in a bowl and mixing really well.

Yup, that’s it!

You can use it right away but it tastes even better if you let it sit overnight in the fridge to give the flavours time to really meld.

This doesn’t end up being an exact copycat of Hela. I feel like it’s pretty close, if I do say so myself. It’s just not quite as sweet.

No photos of me mixing the ingredients this time because it’s all pretty simple and self explanatory.

Like I said above – just mix and let it rest for awhile.

There’s always going to be some variation in taste of this recipe depending on the type of curry powder, paprika and honey you use. If you just use regular the “everyday” brands you find at the grocery store for all, you’ll likely get something spot on to this.

Since I haven’t experimented with different kinds of curry powder yet, I feel like the most flavour variation can come from the honey. Use a mild honey, like Clover or Wildflower (preferably local, as it really is the best for you), to get a smooth sweetness without it imparting an earthy taste. I imagine any liquid kind of sweetener, like agave nectar or a sugar syrup, would work too.

Oh, and my favourite kind of paprika is a Hungarian brand called “Pride of Szeged”. Hungarians definitely know their paprika! You can find it at World Market, but I get it from the local Eastern European Delicatessen, called International Deli. Though, whatever you have in your pantry will work just fine. No need to get special paprika unless you really want to do so.

Are you maybe wondering how exactly you’d use curry ketchup?

Well, if you follow the suggestions on the Hela bottle, you can use it with meat, hot dogs, fish (I’m dubious about this one, heh), noodles, rice or use it as a marinade as well. For me, it works anywhere I’d use barbecue sauce (which is my favourite), since I’m not a huge tomato ketchup fan. So I use curry ketchup on my sausages, fries (especially sweet potato), burgers (veggie or meat) and even mac and cheese.

What’s you favourite way to use ketchup (curry or otherwise)?

As always,

Alles Liebe,

Diony

Quick Curry Ketchup

This flavourful curry ketchup is quick and easy to make. It's similar to the Hela brand in taste and pairs perfectly with sausage, fries, burgers or anything else where you like tomato ketchup.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Author The Kitchen Maus