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CHOW: Recipes: Chicken Paprikash

Chicken Paprikash Recipe

From: Cooking Jewish , by
Chicken Paprikash
Makes: 4 servings

The essential ingredient in paprikash, as any Hungarian cook will tell you, is the paprika. Some like it sweet, some like it hot, but the important thing is that there really is a difference between good-quality Hungarian paprika and that red stuff our mothers sprinkled over chicken for color. While sour cream was an essential part of this dish for their non-Jewish neighbors, kosher cooks in Hungary, of course, omitted it.

Recipes in Judy Bart Kancigor’s book Cooking Jewish were compiled from over 300 family members and friends. This recipe is by Carole Orlow.

This dish was featured as part of our Hanukkah Recipes photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 8 pieces, rinsed and patted dry
  • Kosher (coarse) salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Garlic powder to taste
  • Dried oregano to taste
  • Sweet or hot Hungarian paprika
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium-size onions, finely chopped
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juices reserved
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 large green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
  • 1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup nondairy sour cream (optional)
  • Hot cooked egg noodles, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Season the chicken on both sides lightly with salt. Then lightly sprinkle pepper, garlic powder, and oregano over the chicken. Finally, season with the paprika—very liberally if using sweet, a light sprinkling if using hot. Set the chicken aside.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook, stirring, for 1 minute more, and then transfer the onions and garlic to a plate.
  3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the pot. When the oil is quite hot but not smoking, add the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
  4. Remove the chicken from the pot. Stir the tomatoes with all their juices, tomato paste, the reserved onion/garlic mixture, and the red pepper flakes into the pot. Return the chicken to the pot, making sure to cover all the pieces with the sauce. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and continue to simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.
  6. Just before serving, remove the chicken from the pot and keep it warm. Add the sour cream, if using, to the sauce and heat it over medium-low heat, being careful not to let it boil. Serve hot, spooning the sauce over the chicken and noodles.

This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food team.
Copyright <a target="blank" href="http://www.workman.com/products/9780761135814/">Cooking Jewish</a>.

    Write a review | 16 Reviews
  • Chicken Paprikash Recipe
    3

    I also grew up Hungarian and, while my mother was regularly scandalized by some of my modifications to her recipes, I always made this one her way. Which was with fresh tomatoes, Hungarian peppers if available, regular green if not. No mushrooms, no garlic, no oregano,no red pepper flakes. And yes, sour cream always (in Hungary a paprikash has sour cream, a perkolt does not, otherwise they are essentially the same dish). And no smoked paprika, only Hungarian, either hot or sweet variety based on your preference. That said, this looks like a good chicken recipe and since everyone loves it, I'll have to give a try! For the dumplings, Knorr brand Spaetzle works really well, is much faster and easier than making your own and works better with the paprikash than noodles or rice, IMHO. BTW, my recipe was published in Sunset magazine years ago and can be found here if anyone is interested: http://www.templerinteriors.co.nz/category/susans-recipes/ very bottom of the page. Very simple but also very delicious.

POST A COMMENT |15 Comments

COMMENT

  • Great recipe! Justified the purchase of my new Staub dutch oven. I didn't have so many mushrooms on hand, so I used the two handfuls I had and added a little celery. Also, only had sweet red peppers on hand,

    I grew up on this dish, my family always added sour cream, so I did put in extra full fat sour cream. Delicious! Got rave reviews, even from friends who couldn't resist saying Paprikash...+READ

    Great recipe! Justified the purchase of my new Staub dutch oven. I didn't have so many mushrooms on hand, so I used the two handfuls I had and added a little celery. Also, only had sweet red peppers on hand,

    I grew up on this dish, my family always added sour cream, so I did put in extra full fat sour cream. Delicious! Got rave reviews, even from friends who couldn't resist saying Paprikash with a funny accent. This one's a keeper.-COLLAPSE

  • Just made this for lunch yesterday to entertain new set of relatives: granddaughter and her new husband together with his parents. Made it the night before and reheated it with plain arborio rice and a big mixed greens salad - the chicken was unbelievably delicious and there were lots of appreciative grunts and lip smacking - served with a good baguette and Irish butter, bought brownies and green...+READ

    Just made this for lunch yesterday to entertain new set of relatives: granddaughter and her new husband together with his parents. Made it the night before and reheated it with plain arborio rice and a big mixed greens salad - the chicken was unbelievably delicious and there were lots of appreciative grunts and lip smacking - served with a good baguette and Irish butter, bought brownies and green grapes. This a great receipe for a group - we forgot the sour cream!-COLLAPSE

  • lol givemecarbs, you cook like i do. to me, unless its something like a fancy pastry, a recipe is a guide, not a rulebook. creativity is what makes cooking fun! (and why i can never seem to make the same soup twice!)

  • Just finished scarfing this down. The first time in a long time I had to remind myself to slow down and not inhale my food. And I cut corners due to lack of motivation to run out to the store. No mushrooms, no peppers of any sort, and I used a trader joe's jar of marinara sauce out of pure laziness. But I used sour cream and cracked open some paprika and oregano I just bought. And I had it over...+READ

    Just finished scarfing this down. The first time in a long time I had to remind myself to slow down and not inhale my food. And I cut corners due to lack of motivation to run out to the store. No mushrooms, no peppers of any sort, and I used a trader joe's jar of marinara sauce out of pure laziness. But I used sour cream and cracked open some paprika and oregano I just bought. And I had it over rice with a side of fresh cooked spinach. Can't imagine how good it would be if I actually followed the directions precisely. Can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. Thanks!-COLLAPSE

  • Austria is still closer than this...

    "you must use the sour cream" and "Hungarians always use sour cream in this dish" are pretty odd things to say, since the author clearly states the limitations. While the other complaints about this recipe may be clear, this is one area where the author covered her bases.

  • So there you have it...Hungarians always... I don't think so. Americans always, Mexicans always, etc. Hungary is a varied and wonderful place, filled with stubborn iconoclasts. They never do something always.

  • Hungarians always use sour cream in this dish. Dumpings are not necessary, but i find it tastes better then the egg noodles. I also have never seen mushrooms or dried oregano used in this dish. Parsely is sometimes used at the end to add a bit more colour. Other then that i enjoy making this dish because its easy to make.

  • Being 100% hungarian myself, you must use the sour cream for the wonderful taste of this dish. And to make the noodles(dumplings) is easy. I recently made this for some friends in Pensacola,Fl.; and they said anytime you want to do this again Call Us!

  • Oh and if you want authentic, nokedli, hungarian drop noodles would be it.

  • Oregano and tomatoes? Mushrooms? Green bell peppers?

    I grew up 100% Hungarian. Never had it this way. Not that this might ne tasty, it's just not very authentic. And, DeisCane, cubanelles would turn it rather Austrian.

  • ...or Hungarian Yellow Wax peppers, but those are much harder to find. Either way, green bells are pretty rare in Hungary.

  • Using cubanelles would make this even more authentic, imo.

  • Used a 5 lb chicken - it was GREAT but there was a lot of leftover sauce (which I froze for Shrimp Paprikash) Next time I will use a 15oz can of tomatoes instead of a 28oz can.

    I used Smoked Paprika - WOWEE it sure was good.

  • Made this tonight, it was amazingly good!

  • This was really good - has a good flavor.