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Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

Introduction & method

I don't know why Hungary seems to be obsessed with paprika, but it's used to great effect in this recipe. In Hungary, this dish is known as Paprikás Csirke. Your chicken pieces should be on the bone and with the skin on for maximum flavour.

 Hungarian Chicken Paprikash Recipe

About the Paprika


As you can probably guess from the name, this dish is all about the paprika. You need to use a lot of it - mostly sweet paprika with about one quarter of hot paprika.

Cook the Chicken


Pat your chicken pieces as dry as you can, then season them with salt and pepper. Melt a generous amount of fat in a large frying pan. Put the chicken pieces in and sauté them for 5-7 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcook them - they should be golden brown. Remove them from the pan.

Prep the Vegetables


While the chicken is sautéeing, thinly slice the bell peppers. Using bell peppers is optional but I think it gives a better flavour. Peel the onion, and slice it as finely as you can - a mandolin is perfect for this.

Make the Sauce


Add the veg to the pan that the chicken was sautéed in - you may need to add little more oil. Stir the veg well to get everything coated in oil, place a lid on the pan and steam gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and let the veg cook for a few minutes longer until they are golden. Add the paprika, cook for 30 seconds, then add the chicken stock and the chicken pieces. Try not to get sauce on the skin side of the chicken otherwise the skin will go flabby. Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat down low and cook for half an hour.

Finish the Sauce


When the sauce and chicken have finished cooking, you need to add the cream, but it should be tempered first. This means you warm it up somewhat before adding it to the hot sauce, otherwise it will curdle. Mix the flour into the cream. Add a dessert spoon of the cooking liquid, stir it into the cream, add another spoonful and stir that in. Repeat this process until the cream feels warm, then add it to the sauce and stir well.

Serve the Chicken Paprikash


Paprikash goes well with the little Hungarian dumplings galuska / nokedli. Mashed potato is also great with this.


The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Hungarian Chicken Paprikash on YouTube.

 
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Ingredients & Info



 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks
 250 ml chicken stock
 125 ml soured cream
 1 small red bell pepper
 1 small green bell pepper
 3 medium onions
 1 tsp salt
 1 tsp ground black pepper
 1 tbsp flour
 a knob of unsalted butter
 25 grams paprika

PLUS

Goose fat, duck fat, lard or oil for sautéeing. The paprika can be sweet or hot, smoked or not - it's up to you.


UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Serves 2 -3
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes.
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes.