Passport & Plate - Paprikas Csirke (Chicken Paprika)
Hungary | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Ingredients*
Chicken:
1-3 pounds boneless chicken
3-4 tomatoes
1-2 green peppers
2-4 small yellow onions
1-2 cloves garlic
1-3 T. coarse salt
1 T. Vegeta spice mixture (if available, can substitute chicken bouillon)
3 T. Hungarian Paprika (spicy** csípos or sweet edés)
2-6 T. vegetable oil
water
Sauce:
2 cups sour cream (reserve ½ cup for garnish)
3-4 T. flour
Pasta:
2-3 eggs
3-4 cups flour
1-3 t. salt
water
Optional: parsley for garnish
*This recipe is very forgiving and so the amounts are a flexible range. Taste frequently to make sure the flavor is right for you!
**If you use all spicy paprika, this dish will be hot! I would recommend using sweet paprika or a mixture of 1 T. spicy and 2 T. sweet. If you are ready to be surprised by hot Hungarian food can be, use only spicy paprika!
How to prepare this recipeSeason the chicken with salt and set aside. Slice tomatoes into wedges and chop the green peppers into approximately the same size as the wedges. Finely dice onions and garlic. Mix 1 ½ cups of sour cream with 3-4 T. flour. Set aside and bring to room temperature.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the chicken pieces and cook until slightly golden on each side. Remove and layer in a Dutch oven. In same frying pan, sauté onions and garlic until soft. Add 1 T. of paprika. Once mixed in, remove from pan and layer the on the chicken. Add green peppers and tomatoes on top.
In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 T. of paprika, 1 T. of Vegeta and 1-2 t. salt into 1 cup water. Pour the mixture into the Dutch oven covering the vegetables and chicken. Cook on medium for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
As the chicken is cooking, make pasta dough. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add 4 cups flour to a large bowl. Mix in 1 t. salt. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly in between. Slowly add water 1 T. at a time until wet and sticky.
Once the dough is ready, use a spaetzle maker top of the boiling water. I still use the open-face grater with metal spatula that was given to me along with the recipe! Add the dough, about 1/3 cup at a time, and push through. It will form little irregularly shaped pieces that will drop into the boiling water. Once done pushing, let cook for another 2-4 minutes before straining. Add 1 T. of vegetable oil to the pasta after it has been drained.
Once chicken is done (taste the sauce to see if any seasoning is missing) drain the excess liquid into a small saucepan. Add small amounts of the liquid to the sour cream and flour mixture and stir to incorporate. Once the sour cream will take the liquid without curdling, combine the sour cream and liquid mixture to the remaining liquid in the saucepan.
To serve, gather friends. Heap pasta on each plate; add chicken on top. Ladle sauce over everything. Garnish with plain sour cream and parsley. Jó étvágyat!
The story behind this recipeWhen studying abroad in Budapest I was invited for dinner at a classmate’s flat. No one really knew each other. We were all strangers in a strange land.
In 2002 Budapest was still an exotic place. The questions from my Minnesota friends were silly: ‘”Do they have paved roads? Post offices?” What I found was a vibrant, modern country in the midst of exciting changes, with a population that was both informed and engaged.
The hostess was half Hungarian, half American, and the expert on everything in our adopted country. She wanted to cook paprikas csirke to give us a taste of Hungarian home cooking.
The preparations kept our diverse group busy chopping, measuring, mixing, stirring; and over the din, our personal stories unfolded. The shy German guy, whose parents had described the beauty of the Hungarian sunflower fields to him. The American girl studying the 1956 Revolution. The Greek fellow who was ready to make a party out of anything. His multilingual sister who would become my best friend. All were new to the city, discovering the hidden gems behind the grey and formal exteriors of both buildings and people.
I was fascinated with Hungarian paprika. I used to add it just for its distinctive reddish color. Nothing near the explosion of rich smell and flavor that was permeating the tiny flat.
The paprikas csirke was unlike anything we had tried. Yet, the dish reminded us of our faraway homes and made Budapest our new home. Comfort food. That night led to friendships as we explored the city for the next year. When we left, the hostess gave us each the recipe with a simple spaetzle maker and paprika.
I visited the German guy in Munich and the American girl in the US. I’ve bounced the Greek guy’s son on my knee and was in his sister’s wedding – these connections lasted.
I cook this dish for friends and it always brings me back to the first dinner. Layers of memories, as the layers of flavor are built in the dish.
