Chicken Paprikash
Well, I can honestly say I was not expecting to be posting a slow-cooked winter type dish in the middle of April! Our gorgeous spring weather has turned into the typical rainy April. I can handle the April showers, but Mother Nature decided to hit us with a little snow this week as well! Snow in April in Toronto definitely calls for a comforting, warming dish to help chase off the chill.
What’s more comforting than fall-off the bone tender chicken in a fragrant creamy sauce?
Nothing!
Chicken Paprikash is the embodiment of comfort food. It’s delicious, easy to make, takes only one saucepan, great leftover, and freezes well. In other words, perfect!
The Paprika
A healthy dose of Paprika is what gives this dish its distinctive flavour and beautiful deep brick-red colour.
Paprika is the star of this dish, so the quality of the paprika you use will make all the difference. For best results look for sweet Hungarian paprika from the Kalosca region. For a slightly spicier or smoky flavour, try replacing half of the sweet paprika with a hot Hungarian paprika, or some Spanish pimentón de La Vera.
Paprika loses its flavour quite quickly, so don’t be tempted to paprika that has been lying around in your spice drawer for a couple months! If in doubt, pick up some new paprika.
The Chicken
Bone-in pieces of chicken work best in this dish. Not only do they add extra flavour to the sauce, but you end up with moist, fall off the bone chicken, infused with all the paprika goodness of the sauce.
I prefer to use chicken thighs, but chicken legs with or without the back attached are also great options.
Tomato or No-Tomato?
One of the things I love about traditional dishes is how passionate people are about their family’s recipe. Paprikash is no exception. Some people add tomatoes, others are adamantly anti-tomato in their paprikash. Same with bell pepper, some like to include a pepper, others not so much. Even chicken stock can be contentious, some recipes use stock, others simply use water.
My version of paprikash is based on a recipe a Hungarian gentleman shared with me based on how his grandmother and mother made theirs. His family was definitely in the tomato camp, so I use tomatoes in mine. The bell pepper was optional, but I quite like a pepper in mine. I use a red pepper, simply because I prefer the flavour, but a green pepper is more common.
One change I made is with the flour. Traditionally the flour is blended with the sour cream, then added once the chicken is cooked to thicken the sauce. I prefer to add the flour just before I add in my paprika, to cook off the raw flour flavour.
To Serve
Serve over broad noodles that have been tossed with olive oil or butter and a little fresh dill or with boiled potatoes on the side. You will want lots of crusty bread to mop of all the tasty paprika, tomato goodness in the sauce!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4-6 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (or chicken legs with or without the back attached)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
- 1 red or green bell pepper diced
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika ( or mixture of sweet and hot or smoky)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 14 ounce Canned diced tomatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1-2 tbsp fresh dill (optional)
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over high. Cook chicken, skin side down, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook until browned, 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and set a side.
- Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot and reduce heat to medium. Add onion and diced red pepper and cook until soft, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook, for 1- 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add flour, season with salt and pepper, and stir constantly until mixture begins to stick, 1 minute. Add the paprika and allow to heat through, continually stirring for about 10 seconds. Paprika burns easily and will become bitter, so be careful not to burn it.
- Next, add the broth and whisk until smooth., then add the tomatoes and bring to a boil over high. Nestle the chicken, skin side up, in a single layer into the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir a little of the hot cooking liquid from the chicken a spoonful at a time into the sour cream then add the warmed sour cream mixture to the pan and stir through. taste and adjust seasoning. If you like, add a little fresh dill.
- Serve with noodles or boiled potatoes, tossed with olive oil or butter and a little fresh dill and lots of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.