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Home » Dishes » Savoury Dishes » Stews » Paprikash

Paprikash

Paprikash is a reddish Hungarian stew. Like many old “homeland” dishes from “the old country”, there is much heated debate about both which authentic variations are the best, and which “new world” variations are cardinal sins.

Onions are a key element to the flavour in Paprikash. In fact, old hands at it say the key to the flavour is actually not the paprika, but the onions and the fat.

The meat used is usually chicken, though it can also be made with veal or fish, and in Hungary, it is also made with offal.

The foundation is pieces of meat and chopped onion tossed in paprika. The paprika used is sweet (types such as “édes-nemes” or “különleges”), but you can add a small amount of hot paprika at the end of cooking if you wish (not that hot Hungarian paprika is really all that hot.) The meat and onion are browned in fat (bacon fat ideally), then chicken broth added, and the meat is braised until done. The liquid is then thickened with sour cream just before serving.

You end up with chunks of meat in a paprika gravy. It is usually served over noodles such as Kanadle noodles, “Galuska noodles” or “Nokkedli”, which are teeny Hungarian dumplings sometimes translated in English as “noodles.”

Authentic versions don’t have tomatoes in them, but some Hungarians in Hungary make it with tomatoes in it, anyway. Even their tomato versions, though, use only 1 or 2 tomatoes, not enough to affect the colouring, which comes from the paprika.

Paprikash is often compared with another Hungarian dish, Pörkölt.

Pörkölt Paprikash
based on meat, onion, paprika based on meat, onion, paprika
wider variety of meats lighter meats such as chicken, veal or pork
less water, only partially cover the meat, very thick sauce that coats the meat more water to make lots of gravy
more paprika less paprika
no sour cream sour cream added
braised braised

Both Pörkölt and a similar dish, Paprikash, are usually referred to (incorrectly but irremediably) in English as Goulash.

History Notes

Paprika was introduced into Hungary by Turks in the 1500s and 1600s. It was treated as a garden ornamental in Hungary until about the 1820s, by which time it had become so popular in Hungarian kitchens that it displaced use of previously popular spices such as black pepper and ginger.

Language Notes

Spelt “paprikás” in Hungarian. In Hungarian, “Chicken Paprika” is “kuritsa s paprikoy.”

Sources

Davidson, Alan. Goulash Entry in: The Penguin Companion to Food. London: The Penguin Group, 2002.

This page first published: Nov 28, 2005 · Updated: Jun 21, 2018.

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Tagged With: Hungarian Food

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