Chicken Paprikash
This comforting and deeply flavorful Hungarian dish is easy to make and as delicious as they come!
Yields: Serves 6-8
Active Time: 30m
Total Time: 1h
INGREDIENTS:
For the chicken:
8 (5 ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
salt to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil or lard
2 medium yellow onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp tomato paste
4 tsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken stock
⅔ cup creme fraiche, room temperature (optional)
Scallions, sliced (for garnish)
For the Hungarian dumplings:
4 eggs
2 Tbsp Greek Yogurt, Creme Fraiche, or Sour Cream
1½ c flour
Salt and pepper
RECIPE:
Preheat oven to 350F. Season chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil or lard in a large, heavy dutch oven over high heat and brown the chicken well, skin-side down, about 5 minutes; flip and continue to sear until other side is browned, 3 to 4 minutes more. Turn off heat. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate and reserve until needed. Spoon out a few tablespoon of the leftover chicken fat to use later.
Add diced onions and a pinch of salt to the same pan and cook over medium until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, and flour and cook, stirring, another 3 to 4 minutes. This will form the thickening base for our roux. Add in 1 teaspoon kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and paprika and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to let the paprika burn. Add chicken broth, scrape all that good stuff off the bottom of the pot, and bring to a simmer over high heat.
Add chicken and accumulated juices back into the dutch oven. Toss them in the sauce, getting them well coated, but end laying them skin side up. Place pot into the center of your oven and braise for 45 minutes, stopping halfway through to baste the chicken again.
In the meantime, lets make dumplings. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Beat eggs and yogurt together until smooth, then slowly mix in flour until you get the consistency of very thick pancake batter. You won’t necessarily use all of the flour, you’re going for a certain consistency here, and it will depend on the size of your eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Using two spoons, add heaping teaspoon sized gloves of the batter into the boiling water. Cook for 6-8 minutes.
Drain dumplings, add to a frying pan along with the reserved chicken fat from before. Coat all over with fat to keep the dumplings from sticking to one another, and lightly brown them on both sides. Reserve until chicken is done.
Once your chicken is done, you have some choices to make. Do you want that sauce even thicker? Do you want it a bit creamier? You can remove chicken with tongs, reduce the sauce over high heat, and add in the optional creme fraiche. I like to do this step, but it is up to you, and the sauce is mega-flavorful on it’s own.
To serve, plate up a few dumplings, top with a piece of chicken, pour over some sauce, and garnish with leftover sour cream and scallions.