Hungarian Chicken with Paprika (Paprikás csirke)

by Posted on

paprikascsirkepj

Sweet peppers are still on the market, it’s getting cold, we crave warming, hearty dishes… It seems the best moment to enjoy paprikás csirke. The first time I tasted paprikás csirke (pronounced paprikash cheer-ke) was at my friend A.’s parents’ house in Hungary. It smelt deliciously, its deep beautiful red colour made it look like a Hungarian cookery magazine photo, and the taste was heavenly. It was served with small home-made dumplings called “galuska” (see the TIPS) and cream. Ever since then I have been repeating myself I had to try preparing it one day. I suspected Chicken with Paprika to be much more difficult and time-consuming. In reality it is ridiculously easy, requires few ingredients (I could practically make it every day given my fridge and cupboards’ content) and, last but not least, if you don’t put too much fat at the onion frying stage and if you remove the skin, the whole dish is not heavy neither greasy. In short, one more dish confirming that Hungarian cuisine is simple, delicious and not necessarily heavy or greasy.

Once more during my exploration of the Hungarian cuisine, I decided to try the recipe from Zsuzsa is in the kitchen blog. And once more I wasn’t disappointed. I have simplified the cooking process (my free-range chicken didn’t need any “improving” tricks), modified the quantities a bit and added 1 tablespoon hot paprika, since I wanted the dish to be a bit hot. Oh, and I would have forgotten – this dish is at least twice as good when warmed up the following day! Thank you so much, Zsuzsa, for teaching me one more excellent Hungarian dish that has become a regular – and very welcome – guest on our table.

TIPS: If like me this time you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes or tomato purée (unseasoned).

The perfect sweet peppers to use here are long green or yellow sweet peppers.

The taste of caraway seeds is hardly perceptible, but it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the dish. Do no skip it if you have it (if not, buy caraway seeds).

Galuska (or nokedli) are small, irregularly shaped dumplings grated through a special grater  and served often with this chicken dish. Luckily, small Swiss dumplings called spätzli are made in the same way, so finding here the right utensil for next time shouldn’t be complicated. In the meantime I served the chicken with good white bread. Visit Zsuzsa’s blog to see her nökedli/galuska recipe.

Last but not least, try the first, onion frying stage, with lard or (like I did) with duck fat. The taste will really be much better.

Preparation: 1 hour 30 min

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 skinned chicken legs and 2 breasts cut in two parts each or 4 breasts / 4 legs but the best results are obtained if you keep some chicken bones

6 medium tomatoes + 200 ml water (about 4/5 cup) or the same volume of natural tomato purée (passata)

5 – 6 green or yellow or any variety of sweet long peppers

2 tablespoons lard/duck fat or oil

3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika

1 tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika

1 big onion

1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 garlic cloves

water

sour cream or Greek yogurt (I use “sour milk”, which is roughly skimmed sour cream)

(parsley)

Put the tomatoes for a minute in boiling water and transfer them afterwards to a cold water bowl. Peel them and chop them.

Remove the peppers’ seeds and stalks. Cut them into bite sized pieces.

Chop the onion. Sauté it on a low heat until transparent.

Add the chicken and fry it, stirring, for a couple of minutes.

Remove from the heat. Add the paprika, the salt, the pepper, the caraway, the tomatoes, the peppers and 200 ml water (or 200 ml tomato purée and no water).

Cook it covered over low heat until the chicken is soft inside (it’ll take around one hour to make the chicken very soft, as I prefer it, the flesh falling from the bones).

Check in the meantime if some more water should be added.

Serve with sour cream and galuska (nokedli, see above).

My chicken was still excellent served only with good white bread.

Published by Sissi

50 Replies to “Hungarian Chicken with Paprika (Paprikás csirke)”

  1. A recipe for us on Sunday Sissi, well… I just happen to be at my desk ;-).

    Cold indeed… it was snowing here in Ottawa on Friday (ugh) – Even by Canadian standards, that’s early! And rain to follow *all* weekend… No point taking pictures in this grey light. Anyhoot, your warming dish is right up my alley Sissi… I adore smoky paprika and welcome it especially this time of year. The pepper/tomato combination sounds so delicious especially with the addition of yogurt… a full-flavoured pot of warming goodness! I’ll take two helpings please :).

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. Snowing??? Wow! We really have a mild climate here… I’m glad you like this simple dish.

  3. Laughing, Sissi 🙂 ! The first thing I was taught as a new-to-be ‘Hungarian bride’ was to make galuska [or nockerli, if you prefer 🙂 !] Easy-peasy, as long as there had not been too many glasses poured ere dinner made!! Husband-to-be ‘pretended’ to be allergic to chicken, but the paprikases can be made with other proteins! Love yours and shall honestly make it and enjoy it during the next week 🙂 ! At least I have the recipe here: do not have to go > His Lordship’s published book 😀 !

    1. Thank you, Eha. I’m glad I have reminded you of this delicious dish. I still haven’t made galuska even once, but here we have something very similar, called spatzli, and they sell special spatzli graters I will buy one day the special “grater” for spatzli and will make my own galuska 🙂 (I once saw a Hungarian video where galuska were made by hand by an old lady and it looked really impressive and difficult).

      1. All you need is an ordinary kitchen colander: hold over pot of boiling water, pour ‘batter’ in and beging swiping with a knife under the colander as the latter comes thru’ the holes! When they are done, of course they pop to the top of the water. Easy peasy and absolutely foolproof 😀 ! Yup, same as spätzli!

        1. I would have never thought of a normal colander… Great idea. Actually I don’t have one (I only have those with tiny holes or with thin horizontal lines). Thanks for the tip.

  4. Hi Sissi! It’s still hot here at Houston, Fall has made a couple of short appearances but dissipated just as fast… I am craving a good home cooked meal, the renovation is still on going, it will be another 2 weeks before we are back to normal M(at least that’s what we are hoping). Right now everything in the house are covered in painter’s plastic, I can not find the normal essentials, let alone cooking tools… Ahh enough of complains, the kitchen tiles have been put down, the color is very different than before, at first glance I was concerned we might have made a mistake with the selection, though after looking at them for a few days, they are definitely growing on me.

    Looking at your postings reminds me that cooler weather is ahead, and home cooked meals will be made in my almost brand new kitchen, Yay! Have a good week ahead!

    1. Hi, Jeno. Lucky you! I wish we had warm weather here… I hate cold days when I’m forced to wear warm clothes, can no longer sit outside of bars or restaurants… It sounds like you are completely renovating your kitchen. Good luck! I’m sure you will be happy once it’s finished. What tile colour have you chosen? I’m curious 😉

        1. Jeno, my (in theory practical) floor in the kitchen looks like a battlefield after three or four meals cooked there, so you are right to choose such a practical shade.

  5. Well here summer refuses to leave us and let me tell you with the price of the oil it better stay like this for a while. Anyway, although the temperatures are high I would love to try this dish. Its color is stunning and I have a small vase of Hangarian paprika my brother brought me when he was there!

    1. Thank you, Katerina. Hungarian paprika is unique, isn’t it? I wish summer refused to leave us here too 😉

  6. Dear Sissi,

    Frying with duck fat or lard truly gives the food another dimension in flavour. I seldom cook with paprika and the only time I do is when I make my favourite 70s retro dish of beef stroganoff LOL.

    Now that your neck of the woods is getting colder, I’m sure you’ll come up with an awesome version and I would love to see your interpretation 🙂

    1. Thank you Chopinand. I do cook Hungarian from time to time and most Hungarian dishes require paprika… I have never cooked beef stroganoff… I am not very fond of beef actually (apart from certain exceptions such as steak tartare or rendang beef or grilled wagyu…).

  7. What a lovely dish, particularly when we are experiencing the cold that fall brings all too suddenly. I have made this but with roasted red peppers instead of the tomatoes which makes the sauce delicious and rich. You sauce looks so smooth and creamy yet your instructions don’t include purée-ing the peppers and tomatoes at all…
    My aunt used to make a paprikas that was just swimming in red oil, such a turn-off. The nokedli is also a favourite in our house; JT loves it fried in a little butter to make it crispy and against the smooth paprika sauce it is heavenly.
    I love this dish and make it often in the winter months.

    1. Thank you very much, Eva. If you don’t add any tomatoes, would it still be paprikas csirke? 😉 Frying with lots of fat is a traditional way of cooking and I totally understand what you mean. (I wonder if it’s not because of this that most people consider Hungarian cuisine heavy…). On the other hand there are some rare dishes which simply cannot be done in a low-fat way. I’m always glad when I can reduce fat without compromising the taste.

      1. I don’t recall that my Mom put tomatoes in, she may have omitted it due to the acidity, either way the roasted peeled puréed papers make a lovely thick and flavourful base for this dish. I checked her really old cookbook and it looks like they used 2 small spoons of tomato paste (not sure if you have it but its a very concentrated paste of cooked down tomato purée).
        Her cookbook (now falling apart) is called Az ínyesmrster ezer új receptje, 1935.

        1. Eva, I was asking because I know how some people are strict about traditional, national dishes 😉
          I always have concentrated tomato paste in my kitchen, but I use it mainly as en emergency replacement of fresh, canned tomatoes or tomato purée. Though it’s useful in some cases since it doesn’t dilute food. I had no idea it was used already before the 2nd World War!

  8. Sissi, nothing compares to the authentic Hungarian paprika in the Hungarian dishes, especially with Chicken Paprikash! I learned to make it when I was still a young girl, from my mom, and my aunt. Your method via/Zsuzsa’s is almost identical to mine, I am linking my chicken paprikash from last year so you could check out the recipe.

    You did an amazing job with the authentic sauce, the only reason I have to leave the green or yellow peppers out is that when I do make it it’s for the family, and my daughter gets ‘deathly ill’ from eating any kind of fresh peppers, other than the Hungarian wax peppers, which are very spicy, and the little grandkids can’t eat those…so I just leave out the peppers. I also do add fresh tomatoes (w/out skins) when I have the real juicy ones, but did leave it out of my recipe. Instead of caraway seeds, I like to add a bay leaf or two. The sauce, thickened with a couple Tbsp. flour, broth and sour cream is what really makes it special. Some people just like it plain with its natural paprika sauce…either way, we all love it, and your version would not be any exception because it truly is delicious with the right consistency of the sauce…and that’s what COUNTS!

    http://foodandthriftfinds.blogspot.com/2011/07/chicken-paprikashand-awards.html

    1. Thank you so much, Elisabeth, for the compliments. I grew up on food seasoned often with bay leaves (especially in sauces), caraway was used more rarely, so I’m glad to use caraway for once. It’s a nice change.

  9. I stopped back again to give you the link for my Nokedli, which I first showed on my blog, just a week after I started my blog (didn’t have hardly any followers at the time)
    I also still have the cranker kind of gadget that Zsuzsa showed on her blog which I have different settings to, but I found a much practical one, made in Germany, and it’s a ‘thrift find’ which I ‘ve been using all the time now. My grandkids love nokedli in soups too, I just made a huge pot of chicken soup today for my daughter and of course the nokedli…either that, or matzo ballls; sometimes both!

    http://foodandthriftfinds.blogspot.com/2010/06/baked-salmon-with-nokedli-for-fathers.html

    1. Thank you for the link. Your nökedli look fantastic! And the tool seems very practical too. We have here special spätzli “graters” (spätzli are similar to nökedli), so when one day I decide to make them I only need to go to the nearest kitchenware shop.

  10. Sissi, it makes me so proud to see you cook like a Hungarian! When I saw the photo, I knew you used real paprika. The caraway seed is a basic Hungarian seasoning right up there with paprika. In fact it was used by our ancestors long before paprika became a national spice. It is added to every sausage, salami and to most meat dishes. It can be ground with mortar and pestle to a fine powder and then it becomes indistinguishable in the food. Adding duck lard sure elevates this dish to new heights. I love little bits of fat floating on the top and the nokedli certainly rounds this out. Csirkepaprikas is good with rice too. I do have a skinny version of csirkepaprikas on my blog for the anti-fat fanatic; I made it once so there. I will never make it low fat ever again, skinny chicken paprikas is a bit of a contradiction. This is an uncluttered, well balanced dish and taking away one of its components [fat] is a sacrilege. Use portion control for haven’s sake, but don’t sacrifice flavour. I love what you did here. Congratulations!

    1. Zsuzsa, you made me so proud with your compliments! Thank you so much. Caraway seed is also quite popular in Poland (some people don’t even know about the cumin’s existency and when discover it, think it’s caraway…). I had no idea it was so popular in Hungary. I thought paprikas csirke was one of the exceptions. I muste try making nökedli one day. It did taste marvellous in my friend’s parents’ house in Hungary…

  11. What a gorgeous Hungarian dish…it certainly looks healthy and delicious! I don’t love an overwhelming caraway flavor, but a touch sounds just perfect 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Liz. The caraway acts here a bit like canned anchovies in certain meat dishes. You don’t taste them but without them something lacks.

  12. Eva has made the nokedli for us and we all love it — especially with her paprikas. Your photo looks like it could be in a magazine too Sissi! Now that it is turning colder, I have the same hankering for warm, comforting dishes. I’m bookmarking this one to make this fall/winter.

  13. I’ve only had paprika chicken a couple of times and loved it, but for some reason it’s just one of those recipes I don’t’ think about much. You’ve reminded me of how good it is! Yours looks delicious and having been inspired by Zsuzsa, I know it’s got to be a true Hungarian dish! I’m bookmarking this so I’ll remember to make it! Great job Sissi!

    1. Thank you so much, MJ. It’s so easy, you don’t really have to respect exact amounts, so it’s a dish I prepare quite often when it gets cold.

  14. Even though this week is warming up again (80F – back to half sleeves!), I still love the comfort food all year around. Although ours can’t be spicy but it sounds so good with dipping good bread in the soup… I like it even more next day when I can eat the leftovers. Thanks for introducing Zsuzsa’s blog. I’ll go check it out!

    1. Lucky you! I wish it was warm here… I hate wearing all those wool, warm clothes… Paprikàs csirke is not necessarily spicy (I made it spicy because since it’s cold I need spicy meals all the time! I’m getting addicted), it’s usually made with sweet powdered paprika.

  18. This is beautiful!!
    You know I have been thinking of making this for sometime… I just love how red and gorgeous it looks…
    I have to try this soon, I am thinking using roasted red peppers, do you think they will work?

    1. Thank you so much, Reem. If you use fresh roasted peppers, yes, but if you use canned (in oil for example), I don’t think they will give much taste to the dish. On the other hand, you can always try; maybe I’m wrong.

  19. you’re very into peppers lately which is tempting me so much because I can’t get them here anymore, at least not in the farmer’s markets 🙁 I love the vibrant colour of that soup sissi, and can just imagine the sweet smoky flavour, yum yum!

    1. Thank you so much, Shu Han (it is actually a “thin” sauce and not a soup). We still have some peppers imported from Hungary but soon there will only be the Moroccan ones.

  20. The color does look really really appealing. I initially thought you made chicken in ajvar since you made ajvar recently. That might be nice too.
    This dish sounds simple but I can imagine slow cooking really making a big difference.
    BTW 200 ml is about 4/5 of a cup. 1 1/2 cups is about 375ml

    1. Thank you so much, Mr. Three-Cookies. It is ridiculously easy indeed but so good… Thank you once more for noticing the mistake! You should really work in a newspaper or for a book editor.

  21. Hi Sissi – it’s always so lovely to see another use for caraway seeds… they’re such a wonderful spice, and so under-used. Aside from that seed-cake, and harissa, I’m never quite sure what to do with them. I *love* the colour of this dish – it’s such a vibrant, brilliant red, and the sour cream on top is a fabulous contrast!

  22. Yum Yum! I think I can just mix the sauce with pasta and just eat that on it’s own! I bought quite a bit of paprika on my recent trip to spain so this will definitely be a good recipe for me to cook soon.

    1. Thanks a lot, Sylvia. I have never tried making it with Spanish paprika but I guess it would have a bit smokier taste.

Comments are closed.