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Paprika Chicken

Serves 6 · 65 minutes

Paprika chicken is a dish of Hungarian origin traditionally made with chicken, paprika, and lard, served over pasta. There is no official recipe. Preparations of this dish often vary between families. In this Americanized version, sour cream is used in place of lard. Vegetables are optional—the traditional Hungarian version contains none.

Allergens named in the ingredients: Milk. Flags come from what shops, restaurants and cooks list and from the ingredient names. Always check the label. This is not medical advice.

Ingredients

1 ea. (2-3 pounds) chicken
2 medium onions, chopped
2–4 tablespoons sweet (not hot) paprika
5–7 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sour cream
¼–½ cup heavy cream
Salt
Fresh green parsley
6–7 whole black peppercorns
1 green bell pepper (optional)
½ red bell pepper (optional)
1 carrot (optional), thinly sliced
1 onion (optional), thinly sliced

Method

Cut the chicken into eight pieces.
Add the oil to a medium sauté pan. Sauté the onions for about 3–4 minutes or until they turn yellow.
Add the chicken, peppercorns, salt, and paprika, and stir it rapidly. It is a lot of paprika, but it is not hot and this is a Paprikash. Add water immediately to cover the meat.
Simmer over low heat. If using, add peppers and carrots after 10 minutes of simmering. Stir occasionally until the chicken is tender. If necessary add more water, but very sparingly. Do not boil the chicken—it should be almost fried in the end. This takes about 45–50 minutes. During the last 15 minutes, stop adding water and wait until the liquid is almost boiled off. Keep about a half finger's width of gravy on the bottom of the pan
Add the sour cream and heavy cream to the gravy and stir. Add fresh chopped parsley on the top.
Serve with dumplings, rice or mashed potatoes and salad.