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Csirkepaprikás
Csirkepaprikás: Hungarian paprika chicken in soured cream sauce with nokedli
Csirkepaprikás is the Sunday chicken of Hungarian homes, cooked by grandmothers in villages and in Budapest flats alike and always served with nokedli, the little egg dumplings. Chicken thighs braise gently with onion, plenty of sweet paprika, tomato and pepper, then soured cream is stirred in to make a velvety, brick-orange sauce. Chef's tip: mix the soured cream with a spoonful of flour and some hot sauce before adding it; this stops it from splitting.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the nokedli
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wide casserole over a medium heat and cook 2 onions for 10 minutes until soft and golden.
10 minStep 2: Add 2 ⅝ lb chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin removed and turn it in the onions for 5 minutes until it loses its raw colour. Take the pan off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika and 2 cloves garlic for 30 seconds.
6 minStep 3: Return to the heat, add 1 tomato, 1 green pepper, 1 ¼ cups water or chicken stock and 1 ½ tsp salt. Cover and simmer gently for 35–40 minutes, turning the pieces once, until the chicken is tender and reaches 165°F next to the bone.
40 minStep 4: Meanwhile make the nokedli: beat 10 ½ oz plain flour, 2 eggs, ¾ cup water and 1 tsp salt into a thick, sticky batter. Press it through a nokedli maker or the large holes of a colander into a big pan of boiling salted water. Cook for 2–3 minutes until they float, drain and toss with ⅔ oz butter.
15 minStep 5: Whisk 1 cup soured cream with 1 tbsp plain flour until smooth, then whisk in a ladle of the hot sauce. Stir it into the pot and simmer gently for 3 minutes until thickened. A common mistake is boiling it hard after adding the cream; it will curdle.
4 minStep 6: Serve the chicken and sauce with the nokedli and a cucumber salad.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 780 kcal
- Protein
- 52 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does csirkepaprikás take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of hungarian sweet paprika?
- Smoked paprika, half the amount.
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Nokedli
Nokedli, also called galuska, are the small, soft, irregular egg dumplings that sit under almost every paprikás in Hungary, from Budapest lunch canteens to Sunday tables in the villages of the Great Plain. Unlike German Käsespätzle, they are not baked with cheese: they are a plain, buttery side whose job is to soak up a red, sour-cream sauce. Grandmothers scrape the batter off a wet board with a knife, but a nokedli grater (nokedliszaggató) or a colander with large holes is quicker at home. Serve them with gombapaprikás or lecsó, or toss them with fried egg for a quick supper. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes before cooking; the flour hydrates and the dumplings hold together instead of dissolving into the water.
Túrós csusza
Túrós csusza is a simple dish of wide pasta squares tossed with crumbly túró curd cheese and sour cream, loved across Hungary and especially in the Danube villages, where it is served as a filling main after a bowl of fish soup. At home it is a Friday or end-of-the-month supper made from what is in the fridge. Traditionally it is topped with crisp pork crackling; here, fried onions and a little smoked paprika give the same crunch and savouriness. The flavour is mild, tangy and comforting. Chef's tip: toss the cheese into the pasta while it is still steaming so the túró warms through, but serve the sour cream cold on top for contrast.
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