Chicken goulash

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 800 g chicken
• 2 onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 carrots
• 400 g mushrooms
• 1 potato(s)
• 2 handfuls of peas, frozen
• Tomato paste
• 1 ½ liters vegetable broth
• 1 chili pepper(s), dried
• salt and pepper
• Paprika powder, sweet and hot
• oil
• noodles
• Sauce thickener
• 1 dash of tomato ketchup

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

First, cut the chicken into cubes about 1.5-2 cm² in size. Pour 1 tablespoon of neutral oil over it in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and both paprika spices. Dice the onions as desired; I cut them into cubes about 1 cm², but many people prefer larger onion pieces in their goulash. Finely chop the garlic cloves. Peel the carrots and slice them slightly diagonally into 1-2 mm thick slices. Quarter or sixth the mushrooms, depending on their size; they can be a bit larger, though. Dice the potatoes and the meat. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot and sear the meat. Once seared on all sides, return the meat from the pot to a bowl. Add a little more oil to the pot and sear the onions until they have browned. Do the same with the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. I personally fry the ingredients one at a time, as it’s a relatively large quantity and I want each vegetable to have a chance to cook in the oil without overcrowding the pot. Push the last vegetables aside, add the tomato paste, dried chili pepper, and garlic, and fry for a while. Then add the strong vegetable stock and the reserved vegetables. Cook the carrots until tender while the goulash comes to a boil. As soon as the liquid is boiling, add the meat (with any liquid that has formed in the dish) and after a few minutes, season to taste (with the spices already mentioned, and perhaps a dash of tomato ketchup if the dish is too spicy). You don’t want the vegetables to overcook, so thicken the goulash to the desired consistency with a sauce thickener. Now add the frozen peas for color and cook (frozen peas are cooked after a maximum of 2 minutes). Pasta, rice, and bread are suitable side dishes.