About this Dish
Hungary's most comforting dish — chicken pieces braised in a rich sauce of onions, paprika and soured cream. The sauce must be thickened properly and the paprika must be fresh and high quality — old paprika produces a flat, dusty sauce. Served with nokedli (Hungarian egg dumplings similar to German Spätzle). A dish of extraordinary comfort.
IngredientsServes 4
🍗Chicken thighs and drumsticks, 1.5kg bone-in, skin-on
🧅Yellow onions, 2 large, finely diced
🫑Sweet Hungarian paprika, 3 tablespoons (use the best quality you can find)
🌶️Hot Hungarian paprika, 1 teaspoon
🧄Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
🍅Chopped tomatoes, 1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
🥛Soured cream, 300ml, full fat
🌾Plain flour, 2 tablespoons, plus extra for dusting chicken
🧈Lard or sunflower oil, 2 tablespoons
🥚Eggs, 2 large (for the nokedli dumplings, plus 200g plain flour and a pinch of salt)
Method
1
Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and dust lightly with flour. Heat the lard or oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and brown the chicken pieces on all sides until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set aside — do not skip this step as it builds deep flavour.2
Reduce the heat to medium and add the diced onions to the same pot with all the lovely brown bits. Cook slowly, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes until the onions are very soft, translucent and just beginning to turn golden — patience here makes the whole dish.3
Take the pot off the heat completely, this is crucial — add both the sweet and hot paprika and stir vigorously into the onions for about 30 seconds. Returning the pot to direct high heat would burn the paprika and turn it bitter, so let the residual heat do the work before adding the garlic and chopped tomato. Stir together then return to a low heat.4
Nestle the browned chicken pieces back into the pot, add 250ml of chicken stock or water, and stir everything together. Cover with a lid and braise gently on a low simmer for 35-40 minutes, turning the chicken once halfway, until the meat is completely tender and nearly falling off the bone.5
While the chicken braises, make the nokedli by mixing the 2 eggs with 200g plain flour, a big pinch of salt, and just enough water (about 80ml) to form a thick, sticky batter that drops slowly from a spoon. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, then press the batter through a colander or nokedli grater directly into the water in batches — the little dumplings are cooked when they float to the surface after about 2 minutes. Drain and toss with a little butter to stop them sticking.6
Once the chicken is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for two minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the 2 tablespoons of flour into the soured cream until completely smooth, then stir this mixture into the hot braising liquid, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Return to a very gentle heat and stir for 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens to a rich, glossy consistency — do not let it boil hard or the cream may split.7
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt. Serve the chicken generously sauced in the paprika cream, alongside a big pile of buttered nokedli, with a small spoonful of extra soured cream on top and a final pinch of sweet paprika for colour.User Reviews
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