Hits the Spot

Hungry for Hungarian? This Chicken Paprikás dish is tasty and filling
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Hits the Spot
Photograph by Joe Vaughn

This is one of the favorite dishes served at Hungarian Rhapsody by proprietors Steve and Darlene Szatmari. Hungarian restaurants, once plentiful in metro Detroit, have become an endangered species. The Szatmaris’ Southgate restaurant continues to uphold the sturdy cuisine, however.

> Chicken Paprikás With Dumplings

(Serves 4)
2 medium onions, minced
1/4 cup oil or lard
1 1/2 tablespoon Hungarian paprika (domestic
will also do)
2 cups chicken stock
1 or 2 ripe tomatoes
1 or 2 yellow or green peppers, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 chicken (3 to 3-1/2 pounds, cut into pieces)
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream

Sauteé minced onion in fat (oil and lard) until golden and add paprika. Add some chicken stock (the mixture will burn quickly without liquid).
Add chopped tomatoes, peppers, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Reduce the mixture for a few minutes, then add chicken and cover. Again, be mindful of having enough liquid to avoid burning.  Add stock as needed and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is done. When chicken is cooked through, remove pieces from the juice.

Mix flour, sour cream, and heavy cream together in a bowl.  Then add the flour-cream mixture to the juice (temper it first) and cook it for a minute. It will thicken quickly. Strain the sauce. Cover chicken and dumplings with the sauce to serve.

> Dumplings

2 cups flour
3 eggs
Salt, water, and oil

Mix flour, eggs, salt, and enough water to make a loose paste. Boil water in a pot and add salt and 1 tablespoon of oil so that dumplings won’t stick together. Put dumpling paste on a board and, with a small spoon, make small dumplings and add to the boiling water, piece by piece. After a few minutes, the dumplings will float to the top. Stir, then remove dumplings with a strainer spoon.

Serve dumplings with the paprikás or buttered on the side.