Chicken Paprikash With Spaetzle

Mark Kovach's Note:

A famous Hungarian dish with the trimmings (dumplings!).

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

Chicken

• 1 -3 lb chicken parts
• 1 medium onion , diced
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons butter (your choice) or 2 tablespoons margarine (your choice)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 -6 cups water
• chicken bouillon cube (not necessary with large amt of chicken) (optional)
• 1 (8 -16 ounce) container sour cream

Spaetzle

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 -6 eggs
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. OK let's be Hungarian.
2. Firstly we don't call the dumplings "spaetzle" but I can't spell the word that Grandma always used so I've borrowed the German term.
3. Start by heating the oil in a large pot and browning your chicken parts.
4. Remove the chicken and add the butter or margarine to the pot.
5. Sauté the onion in the melted butter until transparent.
6. Add paprika, chicken, and water, bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 45 minutes.
7. Chicken should be very tender and about to fall off bones.
8. Remove chicken to bowl.
9. Add enough fresh water to pot to bring back to original level.
10. Check flavor of broth.
11. If flavor is weak add enough bullion to produce a well flavored broth.
12. Bring broth to boil.
13. Combine flour, salt, and pepper with eggs (the more eggs the richer the batter but two is OK) to form a thick batter.
14. Now comes the tricky (and boring) part.
15. Drop batter in boiling broth in 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon amounts until all batter is in pot and cooked.
16. Spaetzle is cooked when it floats on surface.
17. You may need to remove some to get it all in the pot.
18. With all spaetzle cooked and in pot you now add your sour cream to broth. The amount is individual according to how creamy you wish the sauce to become (and how much water you started with).
19. At this point I usually add about three tablespoons of flour mixed with one cup of water to thicken the broth. Sorry I omitted this step in the original submission.
20. The sauce and spaetzle is the best part of this dish so be sure to make enough! They will be coming back for seconds on that part of the dish.
21. One of the most surprising things about this dish is it actually tastes better the second day. Sooo if you are making it for a special dinner prepare it the day before and simply reheat it one half hour before serving.

Reviews

[Merlot]

This is heaven! Very similar to the Chicken Paprikas that I make, except I usually add a dollop of sour cream directly on the chicken when serving, rather than mixing it in the broth. I really like it this way too, it gives the broth more substance. My broth was a little weak so I added a small can of College Brand Chicken Broth to perk it up before I added the sour cream. Thanks Mark, for a wonderful meal. Brings back memories of those wonderful meals at Grandmas.

[Normaone]

Mark, I fixed this for my elderly mother, who was recovering from pneumonia. Nothing tastes better then chicken soup when you aren't feeling well. Anyway, she loved it and so did the rest of us. I used a couple more eggs in the Spaetzle because I like the dough a little looser. Also, because of my mother's poor health, I left out the sour cream. I'll add it next time though for sure. Thanks a lot for your recipe!

[Chef #1366815]

This is what I called chicken and dumplings when I was growing up. Imaging the surprise when one of my Southern friends served me what THEY called chicken and dumplings! Many years later, I have learned to love both. This recipe is just how my mama taught me to make it--tho we do make our dumplings a bit bigger. This is all of my kids favorite recipe and one we make often. LOVE IT!