Margarita's International Recipes

Hungary

Gulyás

Goulash


Goulash


Goulash is Hungary's national dish, and symbol. Its origins go back to the 9 century, when herdsmen - called Gulyás in Hungarian - prepared a simple stew of beef and onions. Only in the Xvth century, after the discovery of the Americas, paprika was added to the dish and began to define it. Tomatoes were only added to the recipe in the 20th century.

Goulash falls somewhere between a heavy soup and a thin stew, and its actual ingredients beyond paprika vary depending on regions and styles. This recipe is pretty classic and absolutely delicious. It makes you appreciate paprika like nothing else does - and yes, you need to use a high quality Hungarian paprika.

I followed the recipe below pretty closely, but I miscalculated on the number of bell peppers, so I used 3 red peppers instead of 2 red and 1 yellow. I made the dish the night before I served it, so that the flavors had more time to come together.

Print PDF


Goulash

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. lard or butter
  • 2 yellow onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Hungarian paprika
  • 1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2" chunks
  • 1 yellow red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" chunks
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 2 white or red potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 5 cups beef broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • sour cream to taste

Directions

Heat lard or butter in a large cooking pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown. Turn off the heat.

Add the paprika to the onions and stir well, making sure the paprika doesn't burn.

Stir in the beef and garlic. Turn the heat back to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef browns, about 10 minutes.

Add the bell peppers and continue cooking for another 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, beef broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat to medium, and cook for 40 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with sour cream.


Adapted from a recipe at Daring Gourmet


Hungarian Recipes | Marga's International Recipes | Marga's Best Recipes | Marga's Food Blog | E-mail