Hungarian Goulash (Maďarský Guláš)
Ingredients: 2lbs beef chuck (cubed), 1 green and 1 red large bell pepper, 3 tomatoes, scallions (or leeks or onions), 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, paprika, red pepper, ground black pepper, salt, caraway (ground is better), marjoram
Prep Time: Only about 20 minutes to get everything going, but some 3 hours for stewing
I love Hungarian goulash! Goulash, the traditional dish of Hungary, refers to a beef stew cooked with the sweet powdered red pepper. At least, that’s how it’s now known. This spice, paprika, did not enter Hungarian cuisine until the 16th century. Goulash, on the other hand, was prepared by Hungarian shepherds as far back as the 9th century (these facts come from foodtimeline.org). Goulash is a great dish to prepare while going about other business, such as herding sheep – or mowing the lawn. It takes only some 20 minutes to get the brew going. It can then be left on its own to stew for hours.
Goulash can be either soupy or saucy. In Slovakia, the word guláš or gulášová polievka refers to the goulash soup made with potatoes and eaten with a spoon. Hungarian goulash (maďarský guláš), on the other hand, is the name for a thick stew eaten as the main course with a fork and knife, and served with a helping of the steamed dumpling. What a great combination! You cut off little pieces of this dumpling and use them to soak up the sauce – and “lick-clean” the plate.
Hungarian goulash is a spicy dish. In fact, it is one of only two spicy dishes common in Slovakia I can think off, with the other one being something called Detvianska nátura (recipe to be added later). It is often prepared with canned pepper and tomato combo called lečo. However, this is done just out of convenience, and you can just as easily prepare it using fresh veggies. In making this dish, I followed a recipe posted on a Slovak website. This resulted in a very authentic taste. But there are many variations on this recipe. For few others options, check out Sandy’s recipe, recipe from Hungary Guide or another one from Budapest Tourist Guide. With all this said, let’s get cooking!
Here is what you’ll need, but once again, I forgot a crucial item: cayenne pepper. Hungarian goulash is a spicy dish and this is a must!
Heat up oil (olej) in a large frying pan. Then slowly add the meat (mäso). The oil may splatter so be careful. Brown on all sides. This will take 5 to 10 minutes. Meat is browned before cooking to create a hard shell to keep the juices in. I am not sure why meat is also browned before stewing. Perhaps it helps keep the chunks together.
Next remove the meat, leaving behind the brewing sauce. In the next step, you will add various seasonings, including garlic (cesnak). One trick I learned from my grandma is that there is no need to peel garlic. Simply take an unpeeled clove, and mince it using a food grater. The hard shell will stay behind!
Now add your chopped up veggies (zelenina) and brown them for a bit. Don’t forget to add the spices: minced garlic, caraway (rasca, ground is better, but I used whole), salt (soľ), ground black pepper (mleté čierne korenie), paprika (Hungarian dish without paprika? Impossible!) and a spoonful of tomato paste (paradajkový pretlak).
Then the final spice: hot pepper (štiplavá paprika). When adding red pepper, remember that the concentration will increase as the water content evaporates. Put the meat back in and add enough water (voda) to cover it. Feel free to move everything to a bigger pot if you need to, as I did. Reduce the heat once the water starts to boil.
Cover and wait. And wait. It will take about 3 hours for the meat to soften. I spent this time watching Julie & Julia. Great movie, just to bad Julia Powell decided to write her follow up book outlining (in gory detail according to reviews on Amazon) her various affairs and infidelities. Quite a different image of her marriage than the movie portrayed. In the last hour or so, I moved the lid slightly to a side to allow the steam escape. This helped thicken the sauce. The resulting sauce should be pretty thick – about one second gap thick. This means that if you run a wooden spoon through it, it will take at least a second for the gap to close up. Just as the sauce is starting to get ready and the meat is nice and tender, add some marjoram (majorám).
Serve on a dinner plate with 3 or 4 slices of the steamed dumpling (knedla). It was delicious! I offered a plate to my roommate and he pretty much licked the plate clean. This dish is almost always topped with a dried cayenne pepper, known in Slovak as baraní roh, meaning ram’s horn. Not having any, I chopped up some onions. Note, this photo was taken the following day (the first batch was eaten at 1am) and the sauce thickened overnight. So I added water to thin it, but slightly too much. Hence the slightly watery look to the sauce. Enjoy and dobrú chuť!
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Do you like Hungarian Goulash? How does your recipe differ? Let me know and share with others. Thanks!
Somewhat similar to mine with the exception of garlic, tomato paste and marjoram and the addition of a few bay leaves, a whole tomato and sour cream added at the end of cooking.
I usually serve it up with Nokedli or egg noodles.
I use as much meat that much onion, that I first brown and also instead of adding water, I add some red wine. You got me hungry for gulas. I guess on Monday, when it’s supposed to cool outside I have to cook some gulas.
A little different from the one my Mom and I make.. ours is more a soup but I would love this one. Where is the recipe for steamed dumplings? They are new to me and I want to try them when I make this dish.. Thanks
Barb, click on the blue “steamed dumplings” hyperlink in the third paragraph for the recipe. Also, just before that is a link to the goulash soup, which may be more similar to what you and your mom used to make.
Serve me up some of that with some rice please.
Looks great!
Maybe with this and the knedly i can impress my Slovak girlfriend:)
It would be great if there was a printer friendly page for the recipes. (Without advertisements, comments, links or pictures)
Thanks!
Excellent! Let me know how much she likes it!
And yes, I completely agree about the printable recipes. I would like to put together downloadable pdf recipe cards or a cookbook, but all this requires time which I don’t currently have. But keep checking.
PS: A little grammar lesson. The plural of knedľa is knedle. I was going to write that this because the noun is feminine (which it is) and that the -y/-i ending would imply a masculine gender, but I realized that this is a complete nonsense. The plural of woman, žena is ženy. Hence, once again, hat down to any foreign language speaker who masters all the intricacies of Slovak (or any other Slavic language).
Lubos
knedľa is feminine, but I think we use vzor ulica, as c is “soft”consonant(I have no clue if the word soft consonant makes even sense in English) as ľ is. So plural of knedľa-knedle, according to ulica-ulice. So I don’t think in this case, there is any special rule in grammar.
I like Hungarian Goulash, making it as I go, not following a specific recipe.
Now, as we are Slovaks, does anybody make “barani guláš” – sheep goulash, I made it just last night, as I love it a lot.
Pretty much the same approach, though you use a bit more of green peppers and tomatoes. Some folks don’t like a sheep meat taste, especially in goulash, I love it!! Sheep/lamb is inseparable part Slovak cuisine.
Miro, it’s strange, I am slovak, but never eaten lamb there. Could it be that I am from western part of Slovakia? I haven’t seen any sheep there.
Lucia, I don’t know, before I left for the US, I lived in Bratislava for many years, (school, University, work, etc.), but I grew up in a mid Slovakia (Zvolen, etc.) There was a big pasture right behind our house, and every year sheep grazers set up “salas” just some 500 yards from our house. Of course it has changed later on, and the whole pasture was taken over and a big housing subdivision was built on it, no more sheep.
But I liked hiking in mountains, and stopping up at salas (temporary dwelling for sheep Sheppard) to get some fresh “zincicu, bryndzu, a ostiepky” a “baranina” was always part of our cooking
Miro, so you lived in the village and behind it were pastures for sheep, or was it just behind of town of Zvolen? I have to admit during my younger years, the winter was the only season I visited central, or northern Slovakia(ski vacation with my family during my spring break)so that’s why I didn’t see much of what you are mentioning. Maybe I should go to those parts of Slovakia during this summer when I go visit my family.
Oh, there is plenty of sheep in central Slovakia, also known as Horehronie (subject of a new popular song by Kristina). Sheep are after all used to make bryndza and oštiepok cheese. Many people also like baraní guláš – but I am not one of them. I really can’t stand the taste of mutton. I spent 5 days in Mongolia few years back. The country is absolutely amazing, but the food was a miserable experience. Just about every dish was made with mutton. There is something about the smell that makes me want to throw up…
Lubos,mutton is old sheep isn’t it? I can imagine it being not very tasty. And heard that song. I am not very big fan of it.
Lucia, I lived in Zvolen at time (1951 through 1965) when our house was “at the end” of town, and our backyard was an open space, as I said it has changed later on and a huge subdivision was built on it. Things has changed a lot.
Lubos, old mutton can be “not so tasty” I prefer lamb, however, the biggest problem with “taste” is when folks don’t try to cut out most of the fat (that’s where bad taste comes from), and most importantly don’t eat it fresh. Fresh stew is good even when mutton is used but it’s not so good the next day, and longer it sits in mutton fat the worse it gets.
What can I say, I like it but only when done the right way. I had some really bad mutton stews, no buts about it!
Lucia & Miro, yes there is loads of sheep in Slovakia, esp Orava, Liptov etc. But I agree with Lucia that not many slovaks have experience with eating lamb. Even me. My first lamb dish was lamb donner kebab in London
)). The sheep is more kept for cheese and wool in Slovakia then meat. But maybe I am wrong and there are actually parts of country where you can experience some lovely lamb dishes.
I personally could not stand the smell of it, untill I had a beautiful lamb stew after a hike in english Lake district. Mmmm. give me lamb any day.
That’s a thing, we all have a different experiences. I just came back from Slovakia, my son while still working has a place and a spectacular “farm” he raises goats and sheep. The sheep are a breed that are not used for sheering (wool stuff) and not used for a milking and making a cheese, they will be sold for meat and breading.
However goats are different things, they milk them and make a spectacular goat cheese.
Eat them anyway you want!
http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x479/slavmiro/Slovakia/kklokoc22101129.jpg
My grand daughter made this for me ,it was great. I would like to have more of the same.
Hungarian ghoulash with a bit of west indian/caribbean fresh herbs and spices…delicious!!!
Thanks Lubos…
Great Recipe, i am currently living in Slovakia and i am in love with food here, now i am trying to learn recipes so i can show to my friends when i go back to my country.
Thanks Ceko, where are you from originally?
Hello Ceko, just a curiosity, but are you from Bulgaria by any chance?
I am from Mexico, i love this place. Its hard to say when i want to go back, there is this great place called Karmina in donwntown BA which is the place i usually go for lunch, i love the Slovak food. My name is Sergio, but in Mexico Sheko is short for Sergio, and i changed it for Slovakia Čeko.
Today i made my first Slovak Dish, i am amazed of how easy it was to make it, total success. thanks again for sharing your recipes
I learned to cook goulash from my mom but she is an expert in pivni gulas. We add beer instead of water…also we dredge the beef in seasoned flour and then brown it. instead of water we add beer and beef consomme. then cook it for 3 hours and it’s awesome.
I’ve heard of people adding red wine instead of water, but in my opinion if you’re adding red peppers and tomotoes, water is probably fine as there is enough flavor from the veggies.
That sounds awesome! I’ll definitely try that next time. Any recommendation on which beer to use?
Looks delicious. I can’t wait to try this one out. Thanks so much for all your hard work.
Livia
I became familiar with Goulash from my wife and her family. They are from Yugoslavia and make it differently, but still very good.
Lots of sliced onion, slightly browned, and they add the sweet Hungarian paprika and let it cook for a minute or two.
Add the beef and stir into the onion mixture and then add water or broth, just enough to cover. Cook slowly until meat is very tender.
Serve with small drop dumplings made with flour, milk, parsley, and baking powder. Drop small spoon fulls into boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes and they all float to the top of the water.
I became familiar with Goulash from my wife and her family. They are from Yugoslavia and make it differently, but still very good.
Lots of sliced onion, slightly browned, and they add the sweet Hungarian paprika and let it cook for a minute or two.
Add the beef and stir into the onion mixture and then add water or broth, just enough to cover. Cook slowly until meat is very tender.
Serve with small drop dumplings made with flour, milk, parsley, eggs,
and baking powder. Drop small spoon fulls into boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes and they all float to the top of the water.
I just love Gulas. My daughter-in-law is Czech and we make it like this .
Ingreds: 500gms beef meat – skirt or shin gives lovely flavour , 4 onions peeled chopped, half garlic bulb peeled and chopped, 5cm piece of spicy sausage or small lump of bacon or ham chopped, oil for browning, 1 tspn caraway seeds, 3tblespn. of hungarian paprika, 1 red pointy sweet pepper, handful of cherry tomatoes, batons of a largish carrot, handful of marjorum leaves, 1 to 2 stock cubes, 1 and half pints of water.
Cook on stove using heavy pot.
Our method
Gently soften onion and garlic do not blacken
Add meat and brown
Add paprika and coat the meat mix. DO NOT OVERCOOK the paprika it will turn BITTER.
Add caraway as much as you fancy
Add water and stock cubes
Add carrot.
Stir well and leave to simmer on very low heat until meatis soft.
Meanwhile roast your pepper and tomatoes in the oven in a little oil until charred.
Tip the toms. into the gulas, chop up the pepper and discard the seeds and throw that in as well.
Give the gulas a good stir and continue to simmer it until meat is very soft – it could take about 3 hours depending on your cut of meat.. add your dumplings or cook them separately at this stage. Plain boiled potatoes, a nice crusty loaf or plain boiled rice is nice too
I make English dumplings as I dont have much success with the Czech versions.
DO NOT LET THE POT BOIL DRY ADD MORE WATER IF YOU NEED IT. YOU DONT WANT TO BURN THE BOTTOM!
Adjust your seasonings, add a little fresh marjorum (take care if you use dried – just a pinch) and serve.
I aim for a velvety sauce myself and NEVER thicken with flour or cornstarch they ruin the flavour of any stew they dull the flavour and lose you that lovely unctiousness. The onions and the paprika will do it all for you. A dollop of sour cream on gulas is liked by some
Left overs improve and the gulas is always better on day 2 or even 3. Enjoy!!!
Can one buy cayene pepper in Slovakia? I live in South Africa and learned about the benifits of this spice.And u can buy it here anywhere.
I am actually looking for some satisfying and simple batch food that I can prepare for a bunch of people coming to visit from Moravia. I thought of goulash as it is nice and warming after journey and a cold day, but it takes too long for me to prepare on a weekday evening. But this sounds and looks so great, I will save it for weekend! Can’t wait. I am more used to the ‘soup’ version but prefer the stew one. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Luboš, thanks for excellent recipes with nice pics!
We will be cooking the main christmas food using your recipes. We tried the Maďarský Guláš recipe just a couple months ago and it was delicious.
BR, Lasse
Helsinki, Finland