UK
My grandma’s famous goulash recipe was passed down from her to my dad. She passed away years before I was born so I never knew her, but this recipe makes me feel as though I still have something of hers to connect with.
My grandmother’s name was Ludmilla, and our family is from the Kärnten region of Austria. The goulash itself is actually a Hungarian dish, but Austrians and Hungarians share similar cuisine.
It’s just the best comfort food and I love cooking it for other people. It takes around 3 hours total for prep and cook time -even though the actual prepping doesn’t take a huge amount of work, it’s mostly the waiting- so I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when I manage to pull it off.
Goulash Recipe
Ingredients:
750gm stewing beef
2 large onions
4 tomatoes
Bell pepper if you want
2 cloves garlic
2 level tablespoons paprika
1 heaped tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Tomato puree
2 pints beef/lamb stock (or a touch more if needed)
Method:
- Put paprika, flour, sugar in a bowl, mill well together. Add about 1/3rd to ½ a tube tomato puree and mix to a thick paste. Make up a pint of stock.
- Cut beef into cubes to what size you want, slice (rather than chop) onions, chop pepper and tomatoes and add to pot.
- Start blending a little stock at a time into the paste of paprika/flour sugar. Just do a bit at a time and mix well to avoid lumps. Keep adding stock a bit at a time until you get a thick liquid.
- Add whatever seasoning – salt/pepper/a few mixed herbs – to the food in the pot and mix with a spoon. Start adding the thick liquid to the pot and stir well to coat everything. When all the thick liquid mixed in, add the rest of the stock to the pot.
- Put a lid on it and pop it in the oven at 200 degrees for minimum 2 hrs, 2.5 would be better, check and stir every 30-45 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t burn or reduce too much, turn heat down (later in cooking) if you think necessary.
- When cooked bring it out and let it sit/cool for 10 minutes until you serve. Taste and add a bit of seasoning if required.
Tip: It goes well with fluffy mashed potatoes or tagliatelle!
Follow Lucy Neill on twitter @iliarahl.
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