Chicken Paprikash

Hungarian chicken casserole

Category
Dinner
Cuisine
European
Serves
6-8
Time
70 minutes
From
Phil Price

chickenpaprikasour cream

This is a hearty, warming dish that tastes of sour cream and paprika (duh). I like to add some kind of hot spice, but you can leave that out if you like. The original recipe is from the NY Times, but I've added to it quite a bit

Ingredients

This is for 6-8 people

  • 3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 large yellow or Spanish onion, peeled and diced
  • 2 red/yellow/orange peppers, de-seeded, de-veined and chopped
  • 1 package mushrooms
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika, sweet or hot, or a combination
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon chile de arbol powder (or any chili powder or hot sauce). Optional
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes or 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth, homemade or, if not, low-sodium
  • 1 pound egg noodles (orNokedli)
  • ¾ cup sour cream

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400
  2. Season the chicken aggressively with salt and pepper
  3. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, heavy, oven-safe sauté pan or Dutch oven set over high flame, until the butter is foaming.
  4. Sear the chicken in batches, skin-side down, until it is golden and crisp, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Then turn the chicken over, and repeat on the other side, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. I like to remove the skin and then continue to brown
  5. Remove chicken to a plate to rest.
  6. Pour off all but a tablespoon or 2 of the accumulated fat in the pot. Return the pot to the stove, over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently with a spoon to scrape off any browned bits of chicken skin, until the onion has softened and gone translucent, approximately 5 minutes.
  7. Add the garlic, and stir again, cooking it until it has softened, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
  8. Add the paprika and the flour, and stir well to combine, then cook until the mixture is fragrant and the taste of the flour has been cooked out, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
  9. Add the paprika and chili powder (if using) and stir in. Go light on the chili powder, you can always add more later.
  10. Add broth, whisk until smooth, add the tomatoes, stir, and then nestle the chicken back in the pan, skin-side up.
  11. Slide the pan or pot into the oven, and cook until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
  12. Meanwhile, set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil over high heat. Cook noodles in the water until they are almost completely tender, approximately 7 to 8 minutes.
  13. In 2 pans (or you can combine if you like), fry the mushrooms and peppers and transfer to a plate
  14. Drain the noodles, and toss them in a bowl with the remaining butter, then toss again to coat.
  15. When ready, take the pot out of the oven and remove the chicken to a plate
  16. Add the sour cream, peppers and mushrooms to the sauce, stir to combine
  17. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning and chili as desired
  18. On each plate/bowl, add some noodles, place the chicken on top, and ladle sauce over everything

Notes

  • You can toss in the peppers and mushrooms with everything else, but they will get a little mushy, so I like to fry them separately and add them at the end
  • The original recipe added green peppers, but I don't like them in this dish
  • I make this with just chicken thighs. I like to cook the skin side first, then remove the skins and finish off. That way, you get the taste from the skin without having to eat it
  • Tamasz (Tomi), our main Hungarian acquaintance also likes this to be a little spicy