Marha Pörkölt / Beef Goulash
Credit: Marika’s Kitchen
Ingredients
- 6 pounds of marbled chuck roast cut into cubes; across the grain
- 4 medium onions, diced fine,
- 1 green bell pepper quartered.
- 7-8 cloves of fresh garlic minced.
- 1 frozen tomato, peeled and minced
- 2 tsp ground caraway (usually found in Arab stores)
- 3 heaping tablespoons Hungarian Paprika (6 level)
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 5 -6 cups water
Directions
- Cut Marbled chuck roast into small cubes, cutting across the grain and removing large areas of fat while leaving an adequate amount of marbling.
- Sauté Meat, onions, and garlic over medium heat, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes until meat is cooked through (approx. 20 to 30 minutes)
- Add ground caraway seed and 1 tablespoon of salt and continue sautéing for another ten or so minutes.
- Add 3 heaping tablespoons of Hungarian paprika, stir well and simmer a few minutes while continuing to stir.
- Soon after the paprika, I add in the peeled minced tomato, 1 teaspoon of crushed black pepper and another tablespoon of salt and stir.
- Add 5-6 cups of water and deseeded, quartered green pepper. Reduce heat and cover pot and allow to simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally.
- Check meat for tenderness and also sauce for flavor.
- Serve over dumplings or with rice.
- Notes:
- This recipe is quite simple but it takes patience and experimentation to cook this the way you like it. The longer the meat simmers the more tender it will be. Also, the more marbled your meat is, the more moist it will be. If your meat is too lean, it will be less flavorful and less moist. Meat should always be cut across the grain.
- This can also be made using pork, baby back ribs or veal.
- This can also be made into traditional “Goulash Soup” by making a potato vegetable soup, combine goulash and soup and simmer together with a bay leaf for flavor.
- Adding water is a preference. We like a little more sauce with our dumplings and some of it will evaporate. The amount of water depends on your preference as well as how much moisture the meat contains as well as how much evaporates while cooking.
Bogrács cooking is a traditional way of cooking outdoors over an open fire. Its always fun to be outdoors and enjoy the whole cooking process!