Beef Goulash

[SpiceGhoul]

Does anyone have a really lovely recipe they could share? Preferably without alcohol, as I've seen a few that have red wine in. My friend has gifted me some lovely Paprika from her travels (both the sweet and hot kind) and I'd like to put it to good use. TIA

Not sure if this is authentic - but it is how my mum made it in my childhood and I still make it her way.

Peel about 12 small shallots and 3-6 large cloves of garlic. Gently fry in olive oil until softened.

Mix a heaped tablespoon of paprika with a tablespoon of cornflour and some salt. Toss 600-800g of stewing steak in it. Add this to the frying pan and cook until the meat is slightly browned. The paprika may come off so make sure it doesn't burn in the bottom of the pan. Add a small splash of water if necessary.

Add 2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunky slices. And three red peppers, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunky pieces. Add a tin of finely chopped tomatoes and about 400ml beef stock, along with another tablespoon of paprika, a few sprigs of thyme, a bayleaf and a small teaspoon of honey. I'd use half and half sweet and hot paprika but if you like it less spicy, use more of the sweet.

Cook slowly in the oven at a low temperature or in the slow cooker for a few hours until the meat is tender and the carrots are soft but not mushy. The sauce should be thick and glossy.

You can add a dollop of sour cream at this stage - either stir it in or put a spoonful on top when serving and then sprinkle very finely chopped parsley and chives on top.

Serve with mashed potato or garlic bread or traditional Hungarian egg noodles (nokedli). And maybe some steamed broccoli or red cabbage cooked with caraway and walnuts as a side dish.

Google 'Hairy Bikers beef goulash'

Fantastic recipe. Have made it loads. Takes a bit of time but not difficult at all

Delia Smith recipe,simple and delicious.

Use pork fat. Be mindful not to add the paprika to direct heat, it’s easy to scorch and it becomes bitter if you do.

3 tbsp pork fat
1 large onion
2 medium waxy potato
1 small celeriac
3 green bell peppers
1/3 cup sweet paprika
At least 1 tsp salt (add to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp caraway seeds(optional)
5 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 lb beef shin cut into cubes
5 cups water
1 cup red wine (optional. Burgundy works well)
Sour cream

Melt the fat in the pot on medium heat, add the onions and cook until beginning to brown. Add beef, cook for another ten minutes approx. Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook for around another ten minutes or just under. Take off the heat and stir in sweet paprika, 1 tsp salt, pepper, and caraway if using. Add five cups of water (and wine if using) and return to the heat. Bring to boil then reduce heat to medium, simmer for around 45 minutes. Add potato and celeriac and cook for another 45 minutes. Add salt to taste.

serve with nokedli or csipetke and a spoonful of of sour cream.

https://budapestcookingclass.com/hungarian-pinched-noodles-csipetke/

Another vote for the hairy bikers recipe. It’s delicious and pretty simple to prepare. Plus it makes loads and is good to freeze

dust the beef with flour and the paprika and set aside.
fry a couple of onions until golden.
add oregano and garlic and a couple of chilli peppers and just stir through.
add the beef and a couple of tins of tomatos.
maybe a handfull of red lentils if you want less meat.
boil on low heat for 90 min
add fresh chopped bell peppers & a stock cube or 2 depending on the amount of liquid.
my family would add chopped potatoes as well at this stage and leave simmering for half an hour or so.
serve

To add, you can slow cook and caramelize the onions for longer before adding to meat. Add bacon if you would like, and even mushrooms. For extra seasoning - a tablespoon or two of vegeta.

Most families have their own variation/variations of goulash (and very strong opinions as to what constitutes proper goulash). My’ recipe is from Vojvodina, northern Serbia. It was part of Austria - Hungary and is hugely Hungarian influenced. Have adapted a couple of parts for the UK (celeriac instead of parsley root, and the type of pepper used is different).

Thanks everyone, have gone for the hairy bikers recipe this time around. I have just prepared it all in a pan but transferred it to my slow cooker instead of the oven (so reduced the liquid accordingly and will add the peppers later) it smells like it's going to be delicious 😋.

Yay, I'm making it tonight too! 😀

Place marking to read all the comments.
I was in Budapest last year and found out that traditional 'Goulash' is a soup, whereas I'd always thought it was thick, stew. Apparently the stew version is called something else. Both were delicious though 😋

I make my version, which is cubed braising steak browned, onions roughly chopped and sautéed, sliced carrots, garlic chopped, can chopped tomatoes, beef stock, paprika and oregano, cook low 90 minutes or until tender, add chopped parsley and 100ml sour cream stir then serve. I do add chopped chilli too sometimes but definitely not authentic

Pörkölt, or possibly tokány. Pörkölt is the one normally called goulash outside of Hungary. Tokány is a stew but uses thinly sliced meat and different spices.

I’d recommend the Univer pastes if you like the flavor profile of Hungarian foods.

hungroceries.co.uk/product-category/hungarian-seasonings-sauces-condiments/univer-products/

I’ve some of the tubed paste, do you use it like tomato puree? Can’t find much about it or uses it! 😖

You can do, yes. Which one do you have? Piros arany you use mainly as a condiment or spread (put it on sandwiches, use as a dipping sauce, with cold cuts etc), but you can also add it to sauces as you cook like you would tomato puree.

Gulyáskrém you use as spice when you’re building the base flavors of a goulash, so when you’re sautéed onions but before you’ve added meat and vegetables. Ratio is advised as 1tbsp per 4 portions, but honestly it’s all down to personal preference. I’d recommend starting there, and then you can adjust or not for taste later. Some people like to use it instead of spices, but others will use it in addition to (I’m in this camp). Again though, it’s all about what you prefer, so just experiment with it.

It is quite salty, so you may want to use less or no salt in addition to.