Hungarian Chicken Paprika and Dumplings

This is my Mom's recipe, and it is tried and true.

Ingredients

Chicken

• 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, at room temperature

Dumplings

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

Instructions

1. Chicken: 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.
2. Return chicken to the pan and cook for 30-40 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep it warm.
3. 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.
4. Dumplings: Mix egg, salt and water. Add enough flour to make a soft dough.
5. Heat a pot of water. Add salt. At the boil, make small teaspoonsful 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 paprika sauce. In a pinch, you can just make wide noodles or bow ties instead of the dumplings.

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 (be sure not to over-cook). Sometimes I also remove the chicken skin and debone it. Not authentic Hungarian, I know. My Mom would kill me if she knew!

Posted by jerseyjan at Recipe Goldmine 2004/1/27 17:14.