This is inspired by the excellent shops online, selling Hungarian food. I tried out ‘best of Hungary’ which did me proud, but there are many others. I would love to visit Hungary, I am googling the methods on ‘the man in seat 61’. I bought a tube of goulash seasoning to appease my longing.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp beef dripping or lard
- 1 large onion, diced
- 200g celery, diced
- 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, ground for preference
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 bayleaves
- 2 1/2 tbsp hot smoked paprika (or use mild smoked paprika if you prefer)
- 900g stewing venison, in small cubes
- 1 can tinned tomatoes
- 2 red peppers, skinned and sliced into rings (or use 2 tbsp red pepper puree)
- 1 tbsp goulash paste
- 1 litre beef stock
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
- 400g waxy potatoes, diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- A bunch of parsley stems
- a litre of hot water
- 1 tsp salt
- 100g csipetke – Hungarian pinched pasta – or use Italian soup pasta or orzo pasta.
That seems like a lot of ingredients, but the recipe is easy.
METHOD:
- Heat the lard in a very large saucepan or casserole dish. Add the onions and celery and cook over a low-medium heat for around 8 minutes, stirring so they don’t burn.
- Add the caraway seeds, black pepper and bayleaves and cook for a further two minutes.
- Turn off the heat, and add the paprika, and stir in well. Add a little stock or hot water to help it mix. It is a lot of paprika.
- Add the venison and garlic, stir it all together and cook over a medium heat until the meat starts to brown.
- Add the tomaotes, peppers, goulash paste and the stock. The meat should be covered well buy the stock.
- Cover and simmer for an hour and a half.
- Add the carrots, parsnips and potatoes, along with the parsley, and add enough hot water to cover the ingredients by a couple of centimeters. Season with salt, bring to the boil, and then simmer, uncovered, for around 15 minutes.
- Add the csipetke pasta and boil uncovered for another 15 minutes. Check the seasoning before serving.
This is excellent with red wine, and cabbage as a side-dish.