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The Hungarian Goulash

Hungarian cuisine is outstanding with its various combinations of beef, tomatoes, peppers, sausages and especially the unique Hungarian paprika used in almost every dish. Hungarian cuisine has a spicy character as a result of a very unique ingredient: hot peppers from Szeged or Kalocsa, which are world famous and have been exported in large amounts to Western Europe. There is a wide range of brilliant meals however the most traditional Hungarian dish with no doubt is a well prepared cauldron of goulash.

Goulash is also one of the easiest meals to prepare, however you need to possess special ingredients only available in Hungary and some surrounding countries. Once you have them, you can prepare this amazingly tasty and spicy meal following the guidelines below:

Ingredients available everywhere:

1 kg of beef joint (without bones)
0.5 kg potatoes
1 big onion
2 big carrots
Fresh bread

Ingredients not available in every country:

1 tube of Goulash Cream (most difficult to find, only available in Hungary)
Paprika powder and red peppers from Szeged or Kalocsa (can be replaced with other types of paprika and peppers)
3-4 white carrots (available in Eastern Europe)
1 ‘zeller’, in English often called celery, however not identical

Preparation in 3 steps:

Preparation time: 2-3 hours

Serves 4-5 people

Step one:

Fry chopped onions on sunflower oil in a 3 litre pot for about 5 minutes. Then put the chopped meat on top and fry it on the onions for 1-2 minutes until the beef gets a brownish colour. Add 3 teaspoons of paprika powder, mix it well and add as much water as needed in order to cover the meat. Be careful, the paprika gets burnt very quickly, so add the water as soon as you mixed the paprika with the meat.

Step two:

Add two normal spoons of Goulash Cream to the mixture and mix it well. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the red peppers. Cover the pot and cook it on low flame for about one hour. Taste and blend the mixture in every 15 minutes and add more salt if needed. The mixture should already have a very tasty and spicy character. Taste the meat after 45-60 minutes and if it is softened then you can proceed to step 3.

Step three:

Add the finely chopped potatoes, carrots, white carrots and ‘zeller’ to the mixture and fill up the pot fully with water. Cover it and cook it for another 20-30 minutes until the vegetables soften. Taste the vegetables and if they are soft enough serve the soup with fresh bread. Guests can individually add salt and hot peppers if they wish to.

Enjoy your meal!