Introduction
Goulash is a beef and paprika soup-stew, red, warming and filling, with potatoes and vegetables. It is a one-pot dish for cold days, simmered slowly and better the next day.
It comes from Hungary, where gulyás means herdsman: the cattle drivers of the Great Hungarian Plain cooked it in a kettle over the fire. It became a national symbol in the 19th century. In Hungary, gulyás is a thick soup like this one; the thicker stew that many people call goulash abroad is closer to the Hungarian pörkölt. Use sweet Hungarian paprika and never let it burn, or it turns bitter.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard
- 3 onions, chopped
- 1 kg stewing beef (shin or chuck), cut into 3 cm cubes
- 3 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 red pepper and 1 tomato, chopped
- 1.5 litres water
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 4 potatoes, cut into cubes
- salt and black pepper
- bread, to serve
Tools
- A large heavy pot with a lid
- A wooden spoon
Preparation
- Heat the oil in the pot over a medium heat and cook the onions for 10 minutes, until soft and golden.
- Add the beef and cook for 5 minutes, turning it, until it has lost its raw colour.
- Take the pot off the heat. Stir in the paprika and caraway so they coat the meat, then add the garlic and a splash of water. This keeps the paprika from burning.
- Back on the heat, add the pepper, tomato, 1 teaspoon of salt and the water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Add the carrots and potatoes and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes more, until the meat is very tender and the potatoes cooked.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve in deep bowls, with bread.