Goulash

Chicken Paprikash (Kurací Paprikáš)

Ingredients: one whole chicken, half of a small onion, 2 small tomatoes, quarter of green pepper, two cups flour, one cup sour cream, salt, paprika, halušky
Prep Time: about 2 hours

Chicken paprikash is a dish that is not only truly delicious, but is also really cheap to make. I spent 11 dollars (tax included) at my local grocery store for all the ingredients. This total include potatoes for halušky. Flour and paprika were not included in this tally, since I already had these at home. But, these two items added at most another dollar to the total. We ended up with enough food for at least six hearty plates. That’s just two dollars per person! I don’t know about you, but I think this beats any deal you will find on a McDonald’s Dollar menu. Here you have a great home-cooked dinner that will feed a family of four for under ten bucks!

Take a chicken (sliepka) and cut off / pull off all the skin and fat you can. Don’t throw it out, you will need it!

Cut the skin and fat into inch-by-inch (or smaller) pieces. Fry them for about 10 minutes until the skin starts getting crispy.

Dice half a small onion (cibuľa) and add to the pot.

Cube the meat (mäso) and add to the pot.

Add one tablespoon of paprika and enough hot water to cover the concoction.

Let simmer for about an hour, adding more water as needed.

Chop up two small Roma tomatoes (paradajky) and quarter of a green pepper (zelená paprika). Add to the pot. Let simmer for another 20 minutes or so until everything is nice and tender. While the vegetables are simmering, start preparing halušky.

Combine 2 cups of flour (múka) and 1 cup of sour cream (kyslá smotana). Mix well until you get a mixture resembling yogurt.

Add the cream to the pot, one wooden spoon at a time. Cook until everything dissolves. The resulting mixture should not be too watery. Just like any other sauce.

Serve with halušky. Stir together before eating. Dobrú chuť!

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Segedin Goulash (Segedinský Guláš)

Ingredients: pork shoulder (1.5 lbs), sauerkraut (1lb), medium onion, flour (3 tablespoons), sour cream (1 cup), butter (or lard), salt, paprika, black pepper, caraway seeds
Prep Time: 2 hours

I showed you how to make steamed dumplings in the previous recipe. In this post, I show you how to prepare a great meal to go with them. The dish is called Segedin goulash (Segedinský guláš) and it’s a stew consisting of pork and sauerkraut. You will find it offered in most Slovak restaurants.

Chop up one medium onion (cibuľa), and brown it on butter (maslo).

Add cubed pork (bravčovina), along with 1 teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of caraway seeds (rasca), few dashes of black pepper (čierne korenie) and some salt. Fry stirring until pork is cooked on all sides. This will take about 20 minutes.

Now add 1 lb of sauerkraut (kyslá kapusta) and enough water to cover the concoction. Cover, and simmer for 80 minutes, adding more water as needed.

Take 3 tablespoons of flour (múka) and brown it on melted butter (or lard). Mix into the stew. This will thicken the sauce.

Finally, stir in one cup of sour cream. Let boil for few minutes.

Serve with dumplings. Enjoy! Visit this link for other goulash recipes.

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Goulash Soup (Gulášová polievka)

Ingredients: 1.5 lbs of beef, 1.5 lbs of potatoes, butter, one onion, ground paprika, red pepper, ground black pepper, caraway seeds, one clove of garlic, beef bullion, half of green pepper, one tomato

Prep time: 5 hours

Goulash is originally Hungarian, but don’t let that stop you. This meal is very popular in Slovakia. There are two types of goulash – a thick sauce eaten with dumplings, and the goulash soup. This second type is what I made today. It is very popular during picnics. The traditional way is to place a large metal cauldron over an open fire, and stew up the ingredients while people go about their business socializing and drinking beer. Not having a cauldron – or an open fire! – I made mine on the stove.

Take the beef (hovedzina) and chop it into cubes, discarding as much tendon tissue as possible. Melt butter (masľo) in a pot and brown the beef.

Add onion chopped into small pieces.

Next we add spices: paprika, red pepper (if you like it spicy), salt, black pepper, caraway,…

…, and a mashed up clove of garlic.

Add water, cover and let simmer on low heat until the beef is soft (this will take a while!). Also prepare a broth from the beef bullion and thin the soup as needed. This last step is optional. Make sure you dissolve the bullion in enough water otherwise the soup may turn out too salty.

Peel potatoes, cut them into cubes, and add once the beef has softened (an hour or two).

Slice the pepper, and dice the tomato. Simmer until the potatoes get soft (another hour or so). Many people like to cook this soup until potatoes dissolve completely. Either way, it’s delicious!

Serve with a hearty wheat or rye bread. For another type of goulash, one that is eaten as the main course, see segedin.

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