I had a
chance to taste chicken paprikash for the first time in my life when my then
future mother-in-law made on her 71th birthday as everyone in her
family requested because she was known to make the best chicken paprikash. It was 15 years ago! And if you think she was Hungarian, you are wrong. She was born and raised in
Oklahoma with the Native American blood in her.
But that was not the case. She married to her husband whose parents
immigrated to the US from Hungary early in 1900s. I think that is the reason why my
mother-in-law had become the best cook of chicken paprikash. She was taught to perfect it by the original
and most authentic Hungarian lady first hand -- her mother-in-law, who i'd never had a chance to meet. Unfortunately, that was the only first and one
time I’d ever tasted chicken paprikash from her, and unfortunately, I’d never had a chance to learn
from her. That’s a shame!
The hubby
has been asking me to make chicken paprika for years, but I’d never have a
chance to fulfill his request. It’s not
because I don’t want to, but I was concerned that I would not meet his
expectation he used to get from his mother.
Basically, I just can’t withstand the criticism! It may sound pity but I think you know why,
do you?
Today I have
the courage to cook this dish with confidence after I’ve learned how easy that
is to cook chicken paprikash. My
mother-in-law had been collecting a bunch of cookbooks and hundreds of recipes
she cut out from newspapers and magazines, and I’ve found two chicken paprikash
recipes from her collections. I've read
and compared them carefully. Both
recipes are almost identical, except one doesn't use tomato sauce and the other doesn't use flour. And both don’t add baby
potatoes, green Anaheim pepper and garlic in their recipes.
The added
ingredients is my version of chicken paprikash that give the dish more
interesting texture without interrupting the original intense flavor of the
Hungarian paprika. For the flour I think
it can be skipped if you like the sauce to be a little thinner. But if you want to add the flour for the
thicker sauce, you may want to add more liquid of water or chicken broth to the
pan to make enough sauce for every serving. The result was approved by the hubby who
missed his mother dearly while eating my Chicken Paprikash. Let’s
cooking, shall we?
2 1/4 lbs. Chicken drumsticks
1 medium
white or yellow onion, sliced (about 2 cups)
2 large green
Anaheim pepper or bell pepper, sliced (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp.
finely chopped garlic
2 cups baby golden
potatoes, washed clean
1 3/4 cups
chicken broth
4 tbsp.
Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup
tomato sauce
Salt and black
pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour
cream
1 tbsp.
all-purpose flour (optional)
2 tbsp.
cooking oil or butter
Cooked
noodles to serve with (I used Linguine pasta)
1. wash and
pat dry the chicken drumsticks, then seasoning with a pinch of salt and black
pepper.
2. set a
large frying pan or pot over medium high heat and add cooking oil or butter,
add chicken drumsticks into the pan and
brown them on both side – about 5 minutes on each side.
3. after
finish browning the chicken, take them out to a bowl and set aside.
4. then add
chopped onion, garlic, and pepper into the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until
the vegetables are wilted.
5. add
paprika into the pan, stir quickly to combine
6. add
tomato sauce and chicken broth and stir in incorporate all of the ingredients.
7. add the
chicken back to the pan as well as the baby potatoes
8. reduce
the heat to simmer and cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for at least 50
minutes to an hour until the chicken drumsticks are tender fall-off-the-bone
9. serve
with cooked noodles of your choice and enjoy!
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