This recipe comes from Szakácskönyv by Ilona Horváth. The author notes that other types of pörkölt are also made by the same method. For sertespörkölt (pork stew), use less fat for sautéing the onions if the meat is not lean. You can also add a little lecsó. For birkapörkölt (mutton stew), add garlic and wine.
Ingredients:
600-800 grams beef
50 grams fat
1 onion, sliced
Salt
Paprika
Tomato
Method:
For this purpose, use the softest parts of beef – shoulder, leg and tenderloin. It is good if you use a mix of cuts, including some kidney and liver. Remove the silver skin, dice the meat and sauté the onion in the lard. When the onions are glassy, add some édesnemes paprika and then the meat. Sauté for a few minutes and then add enough water to cover it. Cook covered with a low temperature for about two hours. While it’s cooking, add some sliced green pepper (or during the winter paprika lekvár or canned tomatoes). If the water boils away, keep adding more until the meat is completely soft.
water? you ever heard about to se an appropriate stock instead of water?
I beg to differ István…
The great thing about pörkölt, gulyás, paprikás is that you should be able to do it with the minimum of effort and ingredients. If all the ingredients are good quality (yes, onions too!) plain old water should do just fine.
But if you prefer to save money on low quality ingredients and then spend what you have saved on an “appropriate” stock, suit yourself
give istvan a break
he must be an occasional cook not yet brave enough to improvise but sticking to the letter of the recipe.
which reminds me of my first try as a child of 12-13 to bake a walnut cake. due to a printing error the recipe omitted flour altogether. this would have been recognized by a practiced cook but it cost us the pan that had to be thrown out with the results
All right, all right – I just didn’t like the offensive attitude…
I think you can use both water and stock, depending on the situation you’re in ;o)
Personally I prefer making my own stock; when I buy the meat I ask for some bone which I boil the night before I prepare the pörkölt. The pörkölt is also really great one or two days after preparing. The more you reheat it, the better it gets. It’s kind of like bolognese, once it has had the chance to cool down, the flavours settle and they intensify every time you reheat it.
I’ve never tried it with the green peppers because my mother never made it that way, but I prepared it today like Ilona Horváth recommended and it is great, especially if you use goose fat to fry the onions in and slowly let it simmer with the peppers…
So thank you Ilona Horváth!