The history of sausage, says master chef Vivek Saggar of Delhi-based Food Art, goes back to nearly 2,000 years when meat was salted, smoked, pounded and stuffed into casings of animal intestines in Europe and even in China for storage and consumption.

Since then, sausage has evolved as a complete meat meal worldwide and a number of food festivals centre around sausages in Britain, France and Germany. History cites that the earliest sausage was made around 589 BC in China with lamb and goat meat filling. The Europeans later used pork, veal and beef.

'The popularity of chicken sausages is growing in India. It is easy to cook because part of it is pre-cooked. It is chicken 'keema'. The easiest way to cook it is to saute it lightly with a tablespoon full of oil,' Saggar said.

His signature recipe is the sausage rumali roll - the traditional Indian meat roll in a casing of white-flour wafer-thin large chapatis. Only the meat is replaced by diced chicken sausage and the vegetables are lightly fried to keep the taste of the chicken intact.

Saggar also recommends another of his speciality, the sausage chaat. It is a dish of diced sausages flavoured with minced (raw) coriander, ginger, garlic, onions, bell pepper bits, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice - like the normal 'aloo chaat'.

Sausages are best preserved at -18 degrees Celsius - the usual freezer temperature and can last for months, Saggar said.

The penetration of sausage as a popular snack, however, is still every niche, said Saumitra Prasad, head of sales and marketing of John Keells Food India.

'It is just four percent. But we are trying to make it popular as a snack. In Sri Lanka, our products are popular school tiffin for children. We are currently available in 270 outlets in the capital. An AC Nielsen study says our market share is 12 percent in just seven months since January,' Prasad told IANS.

The company, a market leader in Sri Lanka on packaged foods, launched its meat products in the country in January 2009.