Curried Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie – is there anything that sounds more complete and filling than the idea of baked veggies & meat in a crusty pie? It’s almost like a gigantic samosa – if a samosa was baked instead of fried, was a little less compact & was done in a dish.

My brush with chicken pot pies has always been restricted to the frozen or fast food category – quite unwholesome & very unappetizing. Which is why watching Ina Garten cook one from scratch got me all riled up. The recipe is a bit labour intensive and does take time – you have to marinate the chicken, bake it, make the pie crust, make the filling and then bake everything together. But oh, to crack the crust on your very own home made pot pie, pausing just a while to get a waft of the sumptuous filling within, before plunging in and devouring it, is so worth the effort.

A couple of things – If you are strapped for time, ignore the marinade and go straight for baking the chicken with salt and pepper.

I found Ina’s recipe, while full of flavour, lacked the punch of the assorted tastes that my Indian palate is used to. Usually I can forgo the lack of the punch in more meat dominated dishes because of the succulence of the meat. But not so for this dish. So I tried out a wine based marinade for the chicken and curry powder base for the filling. I found that a Pinot Noir marinade works well because the wine is gentler and doesn’t try to overpower the chicken. Also, there’s a hint of spice in this wine that gets along amiably with the curry flavour. If you like more aggressive wine flavour, I am told that Cabernet Sauvignon may be a good idea, but I haven’t had personal experience with marinating with it.

So, that’ s my two cents. On to the recipe now.

What We Used:

For the marinade:

Red Wine – 1 cup

Olive oil – 2 tbsps

Minced garlic cloves – 4

Chopped basil – 2 tbsps

Red Pepper flakes – 1 tbsp

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Skinless, Chicken breasts – 2

Bowl – 1

Baking sheet – 1

For the Filling:

Chicken Stock – 3 cups

Unsalted Butter – 1/4 of a stick

Chopped shallots – 1 cup

All-purpose flour – a little less than half a cup

Heavy cream – 1/8 cup

Frozen vegetables (I used one that had chopped carrots, beans & corn) – 2 cups

Parsley – a handful

Curry Powder – 1/2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder – 1/4 tbsp

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Saucepan – 1

Big pot – 1

For the pastry:

All-purpose flour – 1 1/2 cups

Salt – a little less than 1 tsp

Baking Powder – 1/2 tsp

Vegetable shortening – 1/4 cup

Butter – 1 stick (room temperature)

Ice water – 1/4 cup

Salt & Pepper – to taste

For the egg wash, 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water in a small bowl

Food Processor – 1

Medium Oven Proof Bowls – 2

How We Did It:

1. The Marinade:
   • In the bowl; mix the wine, olive oil, garlic, basil, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts and let marinate for an hour or two in the refrigerator.
2. The Filling:
   • Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake marinated chicken on baking sheet for 50 minutes or until cooked through.
   • Set aside to cool, then remove meat from bone and cut into cubes.
   • Heat the chicken stock in the small saucepan.
   • In the big pot, melt the butter and add the shallots. Stir on medium flame till the shallots are translucent.
   • Add the flour and keep stirring over low low flame.
   • Add the heated chicken stock, simmer & stir over low flame till the sauce is thick.
   • To the sauce; add salt, pepper, curry powder, red chilli powder and heavy cream.
   • After a couple of minutes, add the cubed chicken, frozen vegetables, parsley and mix well.
3. The Pastry:
   • Into the food process, add flour, salt and baking powder.
   • Add the shortening and butter and pulse. The shortening and butter makes it lumpy, so keep pulsing till the lumps are in the size of peas.
   • With the motor running, add the ice water, a little at a time, till the dough is moistened.
   • Take the dough out and knead into a ball on a well floured surface.
   • Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
5. Prepare the egg wash by beating the egg with 1 tbsp of water.
6. Divide the well rested dough into 2 portions and circles, a little bigger than the bowls.
7. Spoon the filling equally into two medium oven proof bowls.
8. Brush the outside edge of the bowl with the egg wash and place circle shaped dough on top.
9. Crimp the dough so that it sticks to the edges of the bowl, make 3 slits on top, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with salt and pepper,

10. Place on baking sheet and bake for and an hour & fifteen minutes or till top is golden brown.

Chicken in Pomegranate & Walnut sauce from Iraq

I was quite excited to try this recipe from Lamees Ibrahim’s The Iraqi Cookbook, which she reviewed for The Guardian, because the combination of pomegranate sauce and chicken sounded v.intriguing. And also, I dont think I have tried Iraqi cuisine before (though as Lamees states, this recipe probably made its way to Iraq through Iranian travelers).

Here’s our version, with a couple of tweaks to suit my pantry & palate.

What We Used:

Cubed Chicken breasts – 2 chicken breasts

Finely chopped onion – 1

Chopped walnut pieces – 1 cup

Pomegranate molasses - 1/2 cup (check link on how to make homemade pomegranate molasses – it’s easy!)

Tahini paste (sesame seed paste) – 1 to 2 tbsp (Again, the link will tell you how to make Tahini paste)

Finely diced garlic – 5 cloves

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Flour – enough to cover the chicken pieces

Ground black Pepper & salt – to taste

Hot water – 2 cups

Olive Oil

Pot for cooking

How We Did It:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Sprinkle flour over the chicken pieces and bake for about 20 minutes or so. (You can also fry the chicken, as per the original recipe).
3. Once the chicken is baked, sprinkle with black pepper.
4. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Once heated, add chopped onions & season with black pepper.
5. Once the onions are soft, add the walnuts, pomegranate sauce, hot water, tahini paste, salt, garlic and red chilli powder and bring to boil.
6. Add the chicken to the sauce and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Lower the heat & simmer till the sauce is reduced and thickened.

Serve with rice & enjoy!

Our Suggestion:

The presence of walnuts in the sauce can make it a rather crunchy affair to eat. We enjoyed it but if you don’t particularly like crunchy sauces, remove the sauce from the pot, add to blender; & blend. Place sauce back in the pot, add chicken and cook .

Shrimp Pasta

It’s been raining non-stop for three days here. And what could be better than a warm bowl of shrimp pasta with delicious mushrooms to watch the rain go by?

That’s all. No personal anecdote. Just a warm dish, a lovely boy, and beautiful rain – & all does seem right with the world

What We Used:

Time: 30 minutes

Whole Wheat Fuseli Pasta – 1 box

Peeled Shrimp – 1 lb

Sliced Portobello mushrooms – about 10

Diced Garlic – 4

Diced Ginger – a inch

Sliced Onions – 1 1/2

Canned crushed tomatoes – 1 can

Diced Basil – 2 tbsps

Diced Cilantro – 2 tbsps

Chicken broth – 1/2 cup

Cayenne Pepper – 1/2 tsp

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Red Wine – 1/2 cup

Olive oil

Large pan – 1

Pot for cooking Pasta – 1

How We Did It:

1. Cook fuseli according to package directions. (Note – I always add a bit of salt to the boiling water before putting in my pasta. An absolute must from my mom, who swears it adds flavor ). Once the pasta is done, drain and keep aside.
   
2. In a large pan, add oil & cook the cleaned, peeled, deveined shrimp till it curls. Once cooked, remove shrimp & keep aside.
3. In the same pan, heat some more oil. Add the sliced onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and sliced mushrooms and cook, until the mushrooms turn color and are tender.
4. Add wine (we used a Merlot), canned tomatoes, broth, basil, cilantro, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes or so. Add the shrimp to the sauce and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. In a bowl, top the pasta with the sauce and enjoy.

5 Hour Goat

This is the delicious goat dish that the Mostafa made me for Easter. It comes from an Anthony Bourdain recipe, via the NYTimes. In our household, Anthony Bourdain is a god, for he can do no wrong on his show, where he samples food from here, there and everywhere, and for his vehement dismissal of the ‘wham, bam, thank you mam’ cooking style of the atrocious Rachel Ray.

Rant over.

This is a v. succulent dish but I had to (sort of) put aside my Indian palate, which kept asking for more flavor. The Mostafa says that the next time around, marinating it first in mild spices may give it the flavor we are used to.

So, here is the original recipe for a serving of two, Cooking time: 5-6 hours

What We Used:

Thinly sliced garlic clove – 1

Whole peeled garlic cloves – 4

4-pound goat legs, trimmed of fat and caul – 1

Thinly sliced small onions – 1

Carrots, peeled & cut into 3-inch chunks – 1

Bouquet Garni - 1 (We made ours with bay leaf, parsley and thyme)

Dry white wine – a little less than 1 cup

Olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

For the Gravy:

Unsalted Butter – 1/2 tbsp

All purpose Flour – 1 tbsp

Dutch Oven – 1 (You can use a roasting pan but make sure you get one that is small enough to hold your meat and vegetables. It should also have a tight fitting lid)

How We Did It:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Make many small incisions around each leg, inserting a slice of garlic in each (we placed 4 cloves in one leg).

• Place meat in a large heavy Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. Rub meat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add whole garlic cloves, onions, carrots, bouquet garni and wine.
• Place lid on pan and place in oven. Braise legs until meat is very tender and almost falling off the bone, 5 to 6 hours. Make sure you check at intervals to be sure contents do not become dry, adding water as necessary (Most important!)
  
• When done, transfer meat and vegetables to a platter and keep warm.
  
• The dutch oven will have drippings in it that can be used to make a gravy. Transfer liquid contents from pan to a container and refrigerate for 5 minutes or so. This will cause the fat in it to rise to the surface. Spoon off as much as fat as you can and pour it back into the pan. Set the pan on the stove over high heat. Add a little chicken stock and white wine and let the liquids simmer over medium heat. Give it a minute and you will see that the gravy liquid will have boiled away to 1/3 rd of the original quantity.
• In a bowl, combine the butter and flour well. Pour a little of the hot gravy liquid into the bowl and whisk together. When it has mixed well, pour the entire mixture (butter, flour, liquid) into the dutch oven and simmer till the gravy has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, cut meat off bones and place in wide shallow bowls with onion, carrot and garlic. Top with broth spooned from pan.

Lahmacun

Once, a time ago, I was on a stopover in Turkey and the beautiful hotel I stayed at had the most amazing display of bread like food, ranging from the v.dense to light, fluffy, airy ones; with different textures and garnishes. My favorite among the display was Lahmacun, which technically is not bread but what my beautiful friend LS calls the ‘turkish pizza’.

It had been a difficult flight, with yet another long one after; and the hotel & it’s wonderful simple food restored me & my spirits. So much so that even now, the smell of Lahmacun with a drizzle of lemon on it makes me smile so.

Here is my attempt to recreate that wonderful dish. This simple recipe comes to you, courtesy of Zeyda Üstün at the Mymerhaba website.

Serving: Two

What We Used:

For the Dough

Flour – 2 cups
Salt – 1/8 tbsp

Vegetable Oil – 2 tsps

Water

For the Topping
Minced Turkey – 1/8 pound

Diced Onions – 1/2 an onion

Diced Tomatoes – 1/2 a tomato

Tomato paste – 1 tbsp

Diced Yellow Pepper – 1/4

Diced Eggplant – just a spoonful

Garlic Paste – 1/4 tsp

Chopped Parsley – a handful

Chopped Cilantro – a handful

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Lemon – for drizzling

How We Did It:

• Mix & knead the ingredients for the dough together. Roll out till it is very thin.
• Mix the ingredients for the topping together.
• Add toppings to the dough (I placed vegggie toppings on one half and veggie / non-veg toppings on the other half – just for variety).

• Bake in a 450 ºF for 10 – 12 minutes.
• Drizzle lemon on it and enjoy with a bowl of yogurt.

Edited to add: Mine doesn’t look exactly like the ones you get in Turkey because (after much fretting) I realized I forgot to add the tomato paste to my recipe (it was yum nonetheless).

Baked Chicken in Banana Leaves

Last weekend at the Farmer’s market, I was kicked to see cut banana leaves on sale. With nary a thought in my head, I ventured forth and bought a dollar’s worth of leaves. It was only after getting home that I wasn’t sure what I would do with them. For one, they were cut the wrong way for serving food Onam style. For another, I don’t trust myself enough to make traditional Kerala wrapped-in-banana-leaves food without my mom’s specific guidance.

So a rummaging on the internet we went, & out popped this delicious recipe from Kitchen unplugged. We were intrigued by the process – meat wrapped inside banana leaves, being cooked with trapped steam, infused with flavor & juices. But we didn’t want to go out to buy ingredients, and felt a little lazy for post grill cleaning. So tried a baked variation with what we had – & it turned out succulent, nutlike, with a faint banana leaf inspired flavor.

Here’s our version of it for two. Total Time taken = 8 – 10 hours (this includes the marinating time too )

What We Used:

Cornish Game Hen – 1

For the marinade:

Sriracha hot sauce (Rooster sauce) – according to taste

Peanuts – 30

Dates – 10

Green Chillies – 8

Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Ginger paste – 1/2 tsp

Cilantro – 1 tbsp

Bay leaf – 2

Banana Leaves – enough to wrap the chicken. If banana leaves are unavailable, Cook’s Thesaurus suggests substituting with parchment paper or corn husks

Bowl – 1

Baking dish – 1

How We Did It:

• Grind all the ingredients for the marinade in a spice blender.
• Marinate the chicken with the ground ingredients overnight.

• Wrap the chicken in banana leaves, place in a greased baking dish and bake in a pre-heated oven (350 °F) for over 2 hours (use a meat thermometer to check if chicken is done).

• Unwrap & enjoy. I threw in some eggplants & sweet potato in there to make a veggie mash to eat with it.

Kerala Easter Breakfast

Growing up in the Middle East, we didn’t really get into Easter celebrations because it didn’t fall on a holiday. Which seemed like a terrible waste because that meant there was no respite from the exhausting experience that was Good Friday Service (stretching from morning to evening – though our parents did let us sleep in and attend at noon ).

What we did get to enjoy on Easter though, was my mom’s delectable Appam and Chicken Stew curry for a hurried breakfast before we scuttled off to school. Also enjoyed after school, before play, after play, before bed, anytime – because it was just that Yummy!

This Easter, the appam that I made was edible & photo worthy, but not entirely post worthy.

The chicken stew, though, was most excellent. And I owe it to Mallugirl at Malluspice, whose recipe was what I looked at for our Chicken Stew, because I had left it too late to call my mom up for hers .

I added some changes like marinating the chicken for a bit, and skipping the poppy seeds, curry leaves, lemon and yogurt (personal preferences), and got a very close version of my mom’s chicken stew.

What We Used:

Cubed, boneless Chicken – 2 1/2 cups

Chopped Red Onion – 1/2 an onion

Chopped, skinned Tomatoes – 1/4 a tomato

Chopped, skinned Potato – 1

For the Marinade:

Vinegar

Black Pepper

Coriander Powder

To be ground:

Cashew Nuts – 6

Cumin Seeds – a handful

Chopped Green Chilies – 2

Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp

Ginger Paste – 1 tbsp

Dry Spices to add to the stew:

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Coriander Powder – 1 tsp

Black Pepper – 1/2 tsp

Chopped Mint leaves – 2 leaves

Chopped Cilantro/Coriander leaves – 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon Stick – 1

Cloves – 3

Cardamom – 2

Oil

Salt & Pepper – according to taste

Canned (13.5 FL.OZ. or 400 ml) Coconut Milk – 1/2 a can

Large cooking Pot – 1

Small Skillet – 1

Bowls – 2

How We Did It:

1. Wash the chicken pieces throughly. In a bowl, marinate the chicken with vinegar, pepper (enough to cover the chicken pieces) and coriander powder (1 tsp) for about 30 minutes.
2. Soak the cashew nuts and cumin seeds in warm water, for 30 minutes, in a small bowl. I am thinking this is so that it gets nice and soft for grinding. After 30 minutes, grind the cashew nuts, cumin seeds, garlic & ginger paste, and chilies together.
3. In a small skillet, add a bit of oil, and lightly fry the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom on low heat, till their aromas waft out.
4. In a large cooking pot, add some oil and fry the onions (on medium heat) till they are transparent, add the fried spices (cinnamon, cloves & cardamom) to this and stir for a while.
5. To the cooking pot, add the ground paste (cashew, cumin, garlic, ginger and chilies), the dry spices (turmeric, coriander powder, ground pepper), a little water, and stir well.
6. Once the onions are nice and soft; add the chicken and potatoes, salt, pepper, and cook on high heat, for about 5 minutes or so.
7. Lower the heat to medium, add the canned coconut milk and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Taste for salt & pepper.
8. Add the tomatoes, the chopped mint and cilantro leaves and cook covered till the chicken and potatoes are done.

We had it with appam for breakfast, and with paratas for a snack

Turkish spiced Chicken Pita

We had such fun at the lovely Turkish Food Festival over the weekend. What was especially endearing to us as foodies was that each food stall had printed recipes of the food served within. Since I have been meaning to make a Chicken Pita sandwich for the longest time, I decided to do a variation of Tavuk Izgara (Grilled Chicken) from my newly hoarded Turkish recipe cards.

Before I get into the recipes, I have to share some pics of the Festival, especially of the cool cooking device called a Sac they used to make Gozleme

Gozleme

And of the lovely vibrant vests worn by the dancers:

Turkish Folk Dance

I love catching brief glimpses into other cultures and can’t wait for the next Fest to hit us (by all accounts it’s going to be the Vaisakhi Fest next month – can’t wait to see what culinary goodies I can glean from there )

Ok. Here’s how we made our Turkish Spiced Chicken Pita (this recipe serves two).

What We Used:

For the Grilled Chicken:

Cubed Chicken Breasts – 1 Cup

Plain Yogurt – 2 tbsps

Grated Onion – 1/4 of a yellow onion

Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp

Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Ground Cumin – 1/2 tbsp

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tbsp

For the Pita Spread:

Finely chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsps

Finely diced Scallion – 1

Yogurt – 3/4 cup

Canned Chipotle Pepper – 2 tbsps

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Pita Bread

Lettuce – for filling

Bean Sprouts – for filling

Freezer Bag – 1

Pan – 1

How We Did It:

1. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
2. In a large freezer bag, combine the chicken pieces, yogurt, onion, garlic paste, lemon juice, cumin, chilli powder, salt and pepper.
3. Mix the ingredients so that each piece is completely coated. Using the freezer bag means you have one less dish to wash (thanks Food Network)
4. The original Turkish recipe asks to marinate overnight for at least for 8 – 10 hours. Since I wasn’t going for the traditional recipe and had my very own spiced spread that would give me flavor, I opted out of marinating it at all.
5. Spread chicken pieces on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. In the meantime, prepare Pita Spread by mixing spread ingredients in a large bowl. Remove chicken from oven and add them to the bowl.
8. Lightly heat the pocket pita bread.
9. Fill bread with lettuce and sprouts. Spoon chicken spread into it and you are ready for an afternoon snack!

West African Chicken Soup from Homemade Stock

Once upon a Thanksgiving, the KoshyMostafas visited the DasVs and tasted, among many enticing eats, a chicken soup made entirely from the scratch, straight for the soul. The lovely Anu DV, very kindly, let me in on the secret – home made stock, and it really needs to be shared with all.

The stock calls for chicken bones (I used store bought frozen chicken legs) and whole vegetables (which I don’t even bother skinning or cutting, except to fit into pot). And the great thing is the stock can be be frozen for months in ice cube trays (tip – to avoid freezer burn, once the stock is frozen in the tray, pop it off and store in freezer bags). It can be used for soups, sauces, stir-fries and so much more.

What We Used (for the Stock)

Chicken legs – 4 lbs (1/2 of a large frozen pack - I usually take the skin off because I don’t like the extra fat in the stock or maybe it’s just because I just don’t like chicken skin)

Large Red Onion – 1

Celery Ribs - 2

Carrots (medium) – 2

Bay leaves – 2

Parsley – 1 bunch

Garlic – 4 cloves

Black Peppercorns – 1 tsp

Salt & Pepper – 1 tsp each

Large Stock Pot – 1

How We Did It:

1. Wash vegetables and chicken legs.
2. Fill stock pot with cold water, chicken legs, veggies, bay leaves, parsley, peppercorns, salt and pepper.
   
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 6 hours. (I know – who has 6 hours these days, but really you can just leave this on the stove on low heat, set the timer and just forget about it)
4. After six hours, drain stock, discard vegetables. You can either discard the chicken or save it to use for chicken salad sandwiches.
5. Refrigerate overnight in a covered container. The next day, skim and discard the layer of fat on the surface – the gelatinous material left is your stock!!!

There are several ways to proceed with making soup out of your brand new, from scratch stock. What I used was Grace Parisi’s West African Chicken Soup because it sounded enticing and didn’t require noodles (which I usually love but didn’t have enough of in the pantry). I made a couple of modifications because I didn’t have green bananas (I have a sad pantry) but instead had tons of leftover cooked chickpeas.

What We Used (for the Soup):

Sliced Medium Onion – 1

Minced Ginger – 1 tsp

Diced Tomatoes – 2

Tomato Paste – 1 1/2 tbsp

Madras curry powder – 2 tbsp

Cubed Boneless chicken – 1 1/2 cups

Coconut Milk – 1 cup

Cooked Chickpeas – 1/2 a can (about 7 ounces)

Celery Rib – 1

Carrots – 2

Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsp

Chicken Broth – 8 cups

Salt

Oil

Large Pot – 1

Frying Pan – 1

How We Did It:

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add the sliced onions, ginger, tomatoes, tomato paste and curry powder and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, for about 7 minutes.
   
2. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and stir fry the cubed boneless chicken over medium heat, till they are slightly brown.
   
3. To the pot, add broth, coconut milk, carrots, celery and chick peas and bring to a boil.
   
4. Season with salt, add the chopped chicken and cook covered over moderate heat till the carrots and celery are soft. Add the cilantro and simmer until just heated through. If you want a thicker soup, cook uncovered.
   
5. Parisi suggests serving the soup with white rice but I am guessing you can use brown rice too. At least that’s what I am going to do
   

Hungarian Goulash

I first tasted Goulash when my friend David made it for me in smalltownamerica many, many moons ago. David is Hungarian and for him, making this is akin to me making curry – sort of an instinctual thing. D’s recipe was so simple and the flavors so strong that I kick myself for not writing it down. All I remember is lots of beef, paprika and veggies thrown in and a deep red, divine stew coming out.

This is such a complete meal by itself that you don’t really need anything else with it, other than a nice cold beer or even some lovely wines (Click here for pairing suggestions from Chowhound). But if you are especially finicky about having just one dish meals, you could add a simple salad to it.

I put together this recipe from what I remembered of D’s meal (I really should have just called him but I was just that lazy) and a recipe on the Budapest Tourist Guide.

What We Used:

Oil

Lean Beef Stew Meat – 1 lb

Chopped Red Onions – 1/2

Chopped, Peeled Potatoes (medium) – 2

Chopped Tomatoes – 2

Chopped Red Bell Pepper – 1/2

Diced Garlic – 2 cloves

(If you have more veggies in the house, do feel free to use them. Carrots, Celery and anything that holds well in a soup will work for this recipe.)

Paprika – 1 tbsp *

Ground Caraway seeds (or as they are known in India, Shah Jeera) – 1 tsp

Bay Leaf – 2

Ground Pepper & Salt – to taste

* (Side note: The last time I made Goulash on my own, I tried adding red chili powder with the paprika – didn’t have enough paprika to go around – and it really made the dish taste different – not worse or better, just different . Paprika has sort of sweet/smoked spicy flavor, as opposed to chili powder which has a hot, spicy flavor. Traditional Goulash is made from Hungarian Paprika, which you can read all about here)

For the Csipetke (a kind of dumpling that you add to the Goulash)

All-purpose Flour – 1 cup

Large Egg – 1

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Big Pot – 1

How We Did It:

Goulash

1. Heat oil in a large pot.
2. Add the chopped onions. After sauteing for a while, add the paprika powder.
3. Once the onions are slightly brown, add the beef cubes. Fry for a while till the beef turns a bit brown.
4. Add the diced garlic, ground caraway seeds, bay leaves, a little salt, ground pepper. Add enough water to cover everything.
5. Simmer on low heat for an hour and a half.
6. When the meat is half cooked, add the chopped red bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Add more water (about 2 cups).
7. Taste to see if you need more salt or paprika. I added just the tiniest bit of paprika at this point because I like it more hot than most people.
8. Cover and let it simmer on low heat for another half an hour. While it simmers, make your Csipetke.

Csipetke

1. Mix the flour and salt.
2. Add egg. Knead to make dough stiff.
3. Cover for half an hour.
4. After it has rested; flatten dough, pinch off small pieces and add them to your simmering Goulash.

Cook for another 5 minutes or so (if you like the stew to be more thick, let it cook uncovered) and you are all done!!!