Hello, my young Hungarian shepherds! Today it’s all about the colors red, white, and green, because today we are making the best traditional Hungarian Goulash. For the few shepherds that really don’t have a clue what it’s about, it’s basically a stew, but with really strong and concentrated flavor.
Traditional goulash recipe:
2 kg fresh beef
100 g celery root
6 big carrots
5 medium size onions
3 tablespoons sweet ground paprika
1 tablespoon smoked ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground hot chilly
1 tablespoon ground caraway seeds (or cumin seeds)
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lard
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Servings: 8 servings
Preparation time: 2 h : 30 minutes
Traditional goulash recipe:
4.4 pounds fresh beef
3.5 oz celery root
6 big carrots
5 medium size onions
3 tablespoons sweet ground paprika
1 tablespoon smoked ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground hot chilly
1 tablespoon ground caraway seeds (or cumin seeds)
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lard
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Servings: 8 servings
Preparation time: 2 h : 30 minutes
What is traditional Hungarian Goulash?
So, my little Hungarian shepherds, imagine yourself on a cold winter day searching grass in the wilderness of the Hungarian prairie. What do you eat? Something hearty, warm, and strong! You need to be the boss of your cattle, let them know who is the one and only master of goulash. Well, that may or may not be the beginning of traditional Hungarian Goulash. You need to remember that people mostly cook with food grown in their habitat, and Hungary is known for it’s paprika (dried peppers) and meat. In this recipe we’ll use two varieties of peppers, one mild and sweet, the other smoked and strong (just as your bottle of Jack).
What are the basic ingredients?
The taste of great goulash comes from great meat (beef) and exceptional paprika! That’s the base of this traditional meal. Now we add some strong vegetable base and spices, and let it simmer for a loooong time. The meat needs to be soft as J.Lo’s butt (yea, we can use that expression)! And if you think it’s doable in one hour, let’s be real, it’s not! Great things take time! For traditional goulash you do not need broth, canned or fresh tomatoes, and especially no thickening agent like flour! Forget about Holly’s, Molly’s, Dolly’s and every other recipe there is about goulash, because what you’re going to read is the essence of goulash itself. The beef for goulash doesn’t need to be expensive, just the opposite, because goulash is often made from meat leftovers.
How to make traditional Hungarian Goulash?
1. First, finely chop the onions and fry them in lard (you can also use olive oil, but lard is lard my man) until golden brown. It’s really important to fry everything thoroughly, because great goulash is about roast aromas. Add the finely chopped carrots and celery root, and fry until they also get a brownish hue. Season everything and remove it from your large pot into a bowl. Blend everything together with your stick blender.
2. Secondly, prepare the spice mixture. For the spice mixture add into a small bowl the sweet paprika, smoked paprika, ground caraway seeds, fresh ground black pepper, and ground chilly (depending on how hot you like your goulash). Mix it altogether and it’s ready to use. Then chop your meat into small cubes, add lard to your heated pot and throw in the meat. Just fry it slightly and add the spice mixture to it. The meat just needs to get some outside color but needs to be raw inside. Remove it from the pot into a bowl. The meat will lose some juice in the bowl. This is the essence of the meat and you NEED to add it afterwards altogether to the goulash.
3. Now you got your meat and vegetable bases ready! Once again heat up your pot with lard and add the blended vegetable base to it. Then add tomato paste to the vegetable base, fry a few seconds so it changes color to a nice red. Then add the meat base to it. Almost done! Add the bay leaf (and if it’s too thick, add just a few drops of water) and let it simmer for 2 hours minimum.
The best serving advice!
The best (and traditional) side dish is either potatoes (can be added directly to the goulash), bread or fried wheat dumplings. We served our traditional Hungarian Goulash with dumplings!
Quick cooking instructions
- In a large pot, melt the lard, add onions, carrots and celery. Cook until it’s nicely fried. Blend everything.
- Prepare your spice mixture. Again, add the lard to the pot, cook the meat quickly and add the spice mixture.
- Heat up your pot with lard. Add the vegetable base and tomato paste. Mix them together and add the meat base.
- Add the bay leaf and let it simmer for 2 hours. (Enjoy your waiting time with a good glass of whatever you like!)
Now you are a true Hungarian shepherd. You can cook your goulash like the old folks did! You are the master of your cattle, the lard master, the one and only emperor of Hungary! Congrats, and my king, if you want you can share it or don’t (if you dare it?)!
erotik
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viktor.dvanajscak
Hi Viola! Many thanks for the nice review, we’ll of course try our best to make it interesting and fresh!