Chicken paprikas with nokedli (Paprikás csirke nokedlivel)
Chicken paprikash with less common buckwheat side dish (not to be confused with tarhonya)

Chicken paprikash (Hungarian: paprikás csirke or csirkepaprikás) or paprika chicken is a popular dish of Hungarian origin and one of the most famous variations on the paprikás preparations common to Hungarian tables. The name is derived from paprika, a spice commonly used in the country’s cuisine.[1][2] The meat is typically simmered for an extended period in a sauce that begins with a roux infused with paprika.[3]

Preparation

The dish can be prepared using édes nemes (sweet) or csípős nemes (spicy) paprika; it adds a rosy color as well as flavor.[1][4] Sometimes olive oil and sweet red or yellow peppers,[5] and a small amount of tomato paste are used.[6] The dish bears a "family resemblance" to goulash, another paprika dish.[7]

The dish is traditionally served with "dumpling-like boiled egg noodles" (nokedli), a broad noodle similar to the German spätzle.[2][5] Other side dishes that it may be served with include tagliatelle (boiled ribbon noodles),[7] rice, or millet.[8]

Variations

Food columnist Iles Brody's recipe called for chicken, onions, butter or lard, sweet paprika, green peppers, tomatoes, clove garlic, flour, and sour cream.[9][10] Other recipes are similar.[7] While quartered chicken parts are more traditional, modern interpretations of the recipe may call for boneless, skinless chicken thighs.[5][9]

A version of paprikash (паприкаш) exists in Bulgarian cuisine; however, it includes smaller amounts of paprika being added to the sautéed onion at the beginning of the cooking and then adding cubed, usually green, sweet peppers. The dish is centered on the latter.

Chicken paprikash was adopted as a Sabbath dish by the Jews of Hungary and Czechoslovakia and remains popular today amongst Ashkenazim. Tomatoes are often included, and in Romania the dish was traditionally served with mămăligă.[11][12] When cooked by Jews, chicken paprikash typically does not include any dairy products,[13] due to the Jewish prohibition against mixing meat and dairy.

Chicken paprikasch is also a dish commonly eaten by Danube Swabians.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Lukins, Sheila (1994). All Around the World Cookbook. Workman Publishing. p. 378.
  2. ^ a b Steves, Rick; Hewitt, Cameron (2011). Rick Steves' Budapest. Avalon Travel. p. 243.
  3. ^ O'Halloran, Jacinta (2007). Fodor's Budapest. Random House Digital. p. 81.
  4. ^ "Chicken Paprikash Recipe". NYT Cooking. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  5. ^ a b c How to Cook, DK Publishing (Penguin), 2011, p. 52
  6. ^ Amster, Linda; Sheraton, Mimi (2003), The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More than 825 Traditional and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World, Macmillan, p. 156
  7. ^ a b c Grigson, Jane; Skargon, Yvonne (2006), Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book, University of Nebraska Press, pp. 390–91
  8. ^ Kinderlehrer, Jane (2002), The Smart Chicken and Fish Cookbook: Over 200 Delicious and Nutritious Recipes for Main Courses, Soups, and Salads, Newmarket Press, p. 89
  9. ^ a b Jones, Evan. Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard (1992). Simon & Schuster: p. 111.
  10. ^ Cohen, Jayne. Jewish Holiday Cooking: A Food Lover's Treasury of Classics and Improvisations (2008). Wiley and Sons: pp. 80–81.
  11. ^ Marks, Gil (2010). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Houghton Mifflen Harcourt. pp. 439–440. ISBN 978-0470391303.
  12. ^ Roden, Claudia (1996). The Book of Jewish Food. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 123. ISBN 9780394532585.
  13. ^ Baur, Joe. "My Grandmother's Chicken Paprikash Recipe". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Donauschwaben Kochbuch – Donauschwaben Kochbuch" (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-15.

External links

Chicken dishes
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