Pörkölt

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.2 kgbeef shin or shoulder, in 4 cm cubes
• or pork, veal or lamb

Base

• 600 gonions, finely chopped
• 4 tbsplard
• 3 tbspsweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsphot paprika, optional
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 1 tspcaraway seed
• 2green peppers, chopped
• 2tomatoes, chopped

Also

• salt
• black pepper
• water, as needed

To serve

• nokedli, egg dumplings
• or boiled potatoes
• pickled cucumbers
• sour cream, if you must

Directions

1. Chop the onions finely and evenly. Melt the lard in a heavy pot and cook the onions over a medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Take them well past soft, to a deep golden brown, which is the scorching the name refers to. This takes far longer than expected and it cannot be rushed on high heat, which burns the edges and leaves the rest raw.
3. Add the garlic and caraway for the last minute. Now take the pot off the heat entirely before the paprika goes in. Stir the paprika into the hot fat off the heat, then immediately add a splash of water. The splash of water stops the paprika cooking any further and is standard Hungarian practice.
4. Use good Hungarian paprika and use it generously, three tablespoons for this quantity. Return the pot to the heat, add the meat and turn it in the onion and paprika. Do not brown the meat separately and do not add stock.
5. Season with salt, cover, and cook on the lowest possible heat. The meat releases a great deal of liquid in the first half hour, which is what it cooks in.
6. Simmer for 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes until the meat is completely tender. Check it every half hour and add only small splashes of hot water if it looks like catching. Add as little water as you possibly can. The sauce should end up thick and clinging rather than soupy.
7. Add the peppers and tomatoes for the last 30 minutes. The finished pörkölt should be deep red, thick, and glossy with paprika-coloured fat on the surface. Serve with nokedli, the small egg dumplings, or boiled potatoes, and pickled cucumbers.

Technique

• Hungarian paprika is graded from édesnemes, sweet noble, to erős, hot, and the sweet one is the base.
• Sour cream is added at the table by some and considered wrong by others, since that would make it a paprikás.
• Beef shin, pork shoulder and veal are all standard.

Substitutions

• Oil in place of lard, which is less traditional and less good.
• Any long-cooking cut on the bone.

Variations

• Paprikás, finished with sour cream.
• Made with veal, chicken or lamb.
• Csirkepaprikás, the chicken version with sour cream.

History

A thicker meat stew than goulash and made without potatoes; the name comes from pörkölni, to scorch, describing the onion base.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pörkölt?

Pörkölt is a main from Hungary: slow meat stew thick with paprika and onions. A thicker meat stew than goulash and made without potatoes; the name comes from pörkölni, to scorch, describing the onion base.

How long does Pörkölt take to make?

Pörkölt takes 20 min of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Pörkölt?

Yes, within limits. Oil in place of lard, which is less traditional and less good. Any long-cooking cut on the bone.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pörkölt?

Use good Hungarian paprika and use it generously, three tablespoons for this quantity. Return the pot to the heat, add the meat and turn it in the onion and paprika. Do not brown the meat separately and do not add stock.