22 Hungarian goulash soup

We’ve visited Budapest recently and came across that amazing, filling and absolutely delicious soup. We had it twice during one day, in two different restaurants and the taste varied a lot. Apparently, goulash, being one of the most famous and popular Hungarian dishes is difficult to classify, sometimes it’s a stew, sometimes a soup. And the recipe for goulash differs depending on the household, every housewife has her own recipe for it, adding or skipping some ingredients (same thing with bigos in Poland).
Basically, goulash is a soup made with beef, onions, paprika powder, tomatoes and green pepper. I’ve decided to try making it at home and it turned out quite well.
let’s get started then, shall we?

INGREDIENTS: 

600g beef cut into 2x2cm cubes
oil/lard for frying
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced
2 celery sticks
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 green peppers
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika powder (or other good quality paprika powder)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp caraway seed

HOW TO MAKE?
1. Heat some oil in the pot and fry the onions until golden brown. Sprinkle the onions with some paprika powder, stirring all the time to prevent paprika from burning.
2. Add the beef and fry them with onion, until they become a bit softer and get the brown colour. While cooking, the meat will release some of its own juice, let the beef simmer in it for a bit.
3. Add the chopped garlic, caraway seeds (preferably ground), a bit of salt and pepper, bay leaves and pour water to the pan, enough to cover all the ingredients. Leave it on the low heat for a while (until the meat is half-cooked, usually about an hour, sometimes can take longer).
4. After that time, add carrots, parsnip and the potatoes (cut in quite big chunks), celery sticks (chopped). Add some more water since some has probably evaporated by now. You can also add some more salt, according to your taste.
5. When the meat is soft and the vegetables almost done, add the tomato and sliced green peppers.
6. Let it cook for another few minutes. If you want the soup to thicken, remove the lid of the pan. Bring it to the boil and done!
Serve with bread and enjoy.

Smacznego!

aho