Recipe: Chicken Paprikash (Csirke Paprikas) with Soft Dumplings (Galuska)

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH (Csirke Paprikas)
Source: The Hungarian Cookbook by Susan Derecskey
Servings: 8

2 small (2 1/2 pounds) chickens, each cut into 8 pieces
Salt
About 1/4 cup chicken fat or cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 medium green pepper, cored and cut into 1/2-inch strips
3 small canned tomatoes
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

Wash and dry the chicken pieces. Save the livers for another dish, but make a stock with the backs, necks, wing tips, gizzards and hearts. (Place them, plus 1/2 teaspoon of salt, in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Gently bring to a simmer, partially covered, and cook slowly for 1 hour.)

Heat the chicken fat or oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-low to medium heat and saute the onion until translucent. Add the chicken pieces, a few at a time, and saute briefly until yellow on all sides. Do not brown the chicken or cook it long enough for the surface to get hard.

As the pieces are done, put them in a side dish and keep them warm. When all are done, pour 1/2 cup of chicken stock into the frying pan, scrape up any bits sticking to pan, and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and the paprika. Arrange the chicken pieces in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold them all: place the breasts and thighs on the bottom, the legs and wings on top. Pour on the sauce from the frying pan and as much chicken stock as necessary to bring the cooking liquid to the halfway mark.

Lay the green pepper strips and tomatoes on top of the chicken, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Rearrange the pieces of chicken, put the cover back on, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. (It is done when the breast can be pierced easily with a table fork.)

Remove from the heat and let cool. Skim off most - but not all - of the grease. Mix 2 tablespoons of chicken sauce into the sour cream and very slowly pour the mixture back into the sauce. Taste for seasoning. Just before serving, bring the chicken paprikash back to simmer and cook on very low heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Serve with noodles or homemade Hungarian dumplings called "galuska" (recipe follows).

SOFT DUMPLINGS (Galuska)
Serves 8 to 10.

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter or oil

Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well, add the eggs, and beat with a wooden spoon. Add as much cold water as necessary (about 1/2 cup) to hold the dough together. Beat vigorously until the dough comes away from the sides and starts to blister on the surface. Let the dough rest for at least 45 minutes. Turn it out on a wet breadboard and, using a knife or the edge of a soup spoon, cut off irregular pieces about 1/2 inch long and the thickness of a pencil.

Drop the pieces into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. You can also force the dough through a Spatzle machine directly into the water. Galuska are done seconds after they rise to the surface. Skim them off the top of the water with a slotted spoon or drain in a colander. Turn the galuska into a bowl, add the butter or oil, and serve.