In the national cuisine of every nation there is such a culinary masterpiece, the taste and aroma of which are glorified, legends and even anecdotes are composed of it. For Hungarians, this is goulash soup (gulyásleves - gouyashleves). And the main thing that makes it real is the hot, rich broth and the famous Hungarian red paprika. The locals will proudly say: “There is nothing tastier!” and believe that it cures many diseases, relieves stress and fatigue. At one time, goulash was a real chef's pride of the nation.
To this day, there is a heated debate among foreigners about whether this is a soup or a second course, but if you ask this question to a Magyar (as the Hungarians call themselves), he will answer: goulash is thick, hearty and rich, but soup. Gulya - a herd, and who grazes it is the gulyás. Namely, the shepherd of cattle (the shepherd of a herd of sheep or geese has its own name).
No one can say for sure what the goulash that shepherds cooked in the steppe once upon a time looked like, but we offer a step-by-step recipe for authentic goulash from the book of Károly Gundel, the founder of Hungarian cooking. His Small Hungarian Cookbook became a bestseller and went through 40 reprints in 20 languages. So this is how he described goulash soup - it is a kind of meat soup cooked with onions and paprika, to which, in addition, sliced potatoes and small dumplings are boiled. Gundel recommends using beef shoulder or brisket. It is highly not recommended to replace pork fat with butter or, even more so, vegetable oil, as the Hungarian spirit will disappear. A very important point, before adding sweet ground pepper to the fried onions that the pan must be removed from the heat so that it does not taste bitter. Try to find a good paprika that will give both color and taste. This, one might say, is almost the main feature of goulash.
Ingredients:
400-600 g beef (for stewing)
300 g onions
2 garlic cloves
3 potatoes
1 carrot
2 bell peppers
1 piece of tomato
1 chili pod
1 tbsp tomato paste
30 g paprika (ground, sweet)
30 g cumin (ground)
5 g coriander (ground)
salt and pepper to taste
800-1000 ml broth (bone) or water
Cooking:
Wash the meat, dry it and cut into cubes with a side of ~ 1-2 cm. Peel and finely chop the onion.
Wash bell pepper, remove seeds and cut into cubes. Wash the tomatoes and also cut into cubes. Wash the potatoes and cut into large cubes with a side of ~ 1 cm. Peel the garlic and finely chop or pass through a garlic squeezer.
Melt lard (or vegetable oil) in a thick-bottomed saucepan (can be cast iron) and heat. Add the onion, season lightly with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. Remove the pan with onions from the heat, let cool slightly, add paprika and mix.
In a clean frying pan, heat a little oil or lard and fry, in portions, the meat until golden brown. Transfer meat to a bowl with onions. Add chopped garlic and a pinch of cumin and coriander. Pour in a little water (so that the meat is not cooked, but stewed in a small amount of liquid). Stir and simmer for ~1-1.5 hours over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding a little water.
Add potatoes and carrots to the meat, increase the heat, mix and cook, stirring occasionally, ~ 3-5 minutes. Add salt. Add chopped pepper, tomato and tomato sauce. Pour in the broth or water so that the liquid just covers the vegetables. (The amount of liquid can be adjusted to your liking).
Bring soup to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for ~15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
Turn off the finished soup and let it brew under the lid for ~ 10-15 minutes.
At the end of cooking, dumplings (chipette) can be added to the goulash soup. Chipette dough) 1 egg, flour, salt
Break an egg into a bowl, add salt and enough flour to knead a stiff dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave for ~10-15 minutes.
Pinch off small pieces from the dough, the size of a fingernail and throw into the boiling soup (if desired, the dough can be cut into noodles).
Goulash with dumplings should be served immediately!
#gastroplustourhungary_delicious
