Chicken Paprikash

When we lived in Oregon we would go to this little mom & pop restaurant in Albany called Novaks. It was traditional Hungarian food and oh-man it was good. I don't know who is familiar with Hungarian food but it is heavy. Lots of creamy dishes and sausages and rich desserts are the main things on the menu. Therefore we would frequent Novaks in the cold long winter months and not go in the two months of "summer". Now that we are in Arizona, well we don't have a winter - so we have to make due and deal with heavy hot meals on lukewarm days, like today. It was 80. One of the signature dishes at Novaks was Chicken Paprikash. I never knew anything about this dish until the little Hungarian lady insisted that the kids get it for their kids meals. So when it came - I tried it. They next time we went, I ordered it.

I found this recipe online and tried it tonight for dinner and it was a HIT! We all loved it. Don't be frightened by the amount of Paprika - it works. trust me.

p.s. I am copying this recipe word-for-word, no edits (except the sour cream), and I followed it EXACTLY!



This recipe is barely any more complicated than chopping things up and boiling them in a pot. If I use store-bought spaetzel, I can make a complete pot of paprikash and have all the dishes cleaned in 45 minutes.

24 oz. (1.5 lbs) boneless skinless chicken breasts 24 oz. sour cream 48 oz. chicken broth 1 onion 3-4 tablespoons Hungarian paprika 2 tablespoon garlic 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ginger 2 bay leaves corn starch (or preferably potato starch, if you have access to a health food store) olive oil 1 Fudgesicle

Make spaetzel; put in a bowl. Alternatively, you can buy spaetzel from the store, or prepare any type of noodles you prefer.
Chop up the chicken breasts into small pieces.
Put the chicken and garlic in a pot; saute in olive oil.
Chop up the onion into small pieces.
Put the onions and some chicken broth into the pot. For now, use just enough broth to keep everything submerged, but don't flood it. You should have some broth left over (maybe around 16 ounces); the remaining broth will be used below.
Stir in the other spices (paprika, salt, black pepper, ginger, bay leaves).
Simmer to let the chicken and onions cook thoroughly. While it's all cooking, eat the Fudgesicle.
When the chicken and onions are fully cooked, add the starch as a thickening agent, by mixing it into the remaining broth and pouring it into the pot. (If you're out of broth, use water; but ideally you will have exactly enough broth for this.) Remove from heat and let it thicken.
Finally, mix in the sour cream, and it's ready to serve over spaetzel

Note: Spaetzel makes this dish! I just bought it in the pasta section at my local grocery store and boiled it just like it was a pasta. yummmmm...