Hungarian veal goulash

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 800 g veal shoulder
• 400 g onion(s)
• 50 g lard, white, without cracklings
• 1 ½ tbsp paprika powder, sweet
• ½ tbsp paprika powder, hot
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp, heaped tomato paste
• 2 small bell peppers, green
• 300 g sour cream or sour cream
• 1 tbsp, heaped plain wheat flour

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 5 minutes

Delicious things from Hungary

Wash the meat and cut into bite-sized cubes. Peel the onions and roughly dice or thinly slice. Heat the lard in a large, wide saucepan and fry the onions until golden yellow. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sweet and hot paprika powder. Immediately add a little cold water to the onions, return the pan to the stovetop, and let the liquid slowly reduce. Add the meat, fry, and stir occasionally. Season the meat with salt, cover, and simmer over low heat. Check occasionally, stir, and add a little more water. The amount of water you add depends on the quality of the meat: meat that releases a lot of water when braising doesn’t need as much extra water. When the meat is reasonably tender after about 60 minutes of braising, mix the tomato paste with a little water and add it to the meat. Add the cleaned and diced green bell pepper and simmer over medium heat. After about 80 minutes, taste the meat; it should now be tender and buttery. If not, let the goulash simmer for a few more minutes. Then mix the sour cream with the flour until smooth, adding a splash of milk if necessary to make it a little runny; this helps when stirring in. Slowly pour the mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. Bring the goulash back to a boil briefly, then turn off the heat and let it simmer uncovered on the hot plate for 2 minutes. It goes perfectly with dumplings or spaetzle. In Hungary, we also always had puszta salad, coleslaw, or pickled gherkins.