Hungarian Chicken Paprikas and Dumplings (My Mom's)

Posted by jerseyjan at recipegoldmine.com May 31, 2001

OK, here's the Hungarian part of me.

1 (3 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt
2 heaping tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tomato, peeled and chopped
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Brown the chicken and onions and garlic in the butter till brown, adding salt midway. Remove the chicken and add paprika and cook for 1 minute.

Add the tomato and 1/2 cup chicken broth, lower heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Return chicken to the pan and cook for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the chicken and keep it warm. Sprinkle the flour over the drippings, stirring briskly to smooth and blend and simmer for 3 minutes.

Gradually add enough chicken broth to make 1 cup of liquid, then stir in the heavy cream. When it is heated through, turn off the heat and add the sour cream to the sauce, blending quickly so that it doesn't boil. Spoon over the chicken.

Sometimes I omit the heavy cream and put in a pint of sour cream. Although my Mom did not do it, I occasionally add chopped green peppers and mushrooms to the cooking chicken. I sometimes would make it with boneless chicken breasts only, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. Sometimes I also remove the chicken skin and de-bone it. Not authentic Hungarian, I know. My Mom would kill me if she knew!!!

Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
About 3/4 to 1 cup water

Mix egg, salt and water. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Heat a pot of water. Add salt. At the boil, make small teaspoonfuls of the dough and pull it off the plate into the water. When they come to the surface, cook 1-2 minutes and drain. Add to the paprikas sauce.

In a pinch, you can just make wide noodles instead of the dumplings. Geez, with all my adjustments, it kinda loses its Hungarian-ness.