For a long time, goulash was considered one of the main national dishes of Hungary. Initially, goulash belonged to thick soups. Hungarian food is very different from what was considered Hungarian cuisine even a hundred years ago. And yet she left in herself the imprints of that ancient cuisine. Since the most ancient Hungarians led a nomadic way of life, it was necessary to prepare food resembling canned food, from which it would be possible to make a snack relatively quickly.
It was originally a dough made from eggs dried in the sun in the form of very small lumps the size of a grain of rice or millet. Hungarians love and use this dish to this day. It is used as a side dish to various types of meat, added to soups. The name of this dish is "tarhonya".
A bagrach device has come down to our times, which is a boiler with a convex bottom. It can only be hung on supports above the fireplace. This device is used by the Hungarians to this day for preparing an ancient dish called bagrach-goulash, that is, goulash in a cauldron.
In our interpretation, goulash is considered a stew. Goulash is one of the most popular dishes in the domestic public catering. But in reality, goulash is considered a thick soup with the addition of potatoes, onions, peppers and small pieces of dough.
Energy value of goulash
This dish is classified as a medium-calorie dish. It contains about 150 kcal for every 100 grams.
Goulash with beef contains a large amount of minerals, vitamins, saturated fatty acids, which is very useful for the human body.
Despite the average calorie content, the dish gives enough energy and strength.
Classic Hungarian goulash recipe
Required ingredients for cooking: beef pulp - 0.5 kg; animal fat or vegetable oil - 100 grams; one or two large onions; a few cloves of garlic; a couple of teaspoons of sweet paprika; 0.5 teaspoon of cumin; 0.6 kg of potatoes; one bell pepper and a tomato; salt.
The prepared meat is peeled and cut into small pieces. The onion is chopped into small pieces, stewed in fat and sprinkled with caraway seeds, paprika and chopped garlic, salted. Beef must be fried a little and covered with a lid so that it stews in its juice. After the meat becomes soft, peeled and cut into thin slices of pepper, chopped into large pieces of potatoes and tomatoes are added. Next, the dish is poured with water so that it floods everything, and stewed until fully cooked. The amount of water must be calculated so that about 4 servings of soup are obtained.
If desired, it is permissible to add small dumplings made from egg, water and flour. Alternatively, you can add parsley root and carrots to taste.
Goulash with mushrooms. Step by step recipe
Such a dish turns out to be incredibly tasty and aromatic and does not take much time. It's easy to make at home.
Any meat is suitable - be it beef or pork.
You can also take any mushrooms in any form - dried, canned or raw. But it works best if you take fresh mushrooms.
Ingredients required for cooking: 700 grams of meat pulp, 300 grams of mushrooms, one large onion, one tablespoon of flour, 100 grams of tomato paste or sauce, broth or water, salt and pepper to taste.
First, you need to rinse the mushrooms well and let them drain, since the presence of water in them will impair the taste.
Mushrooms are fried over medium heat in a little oil until the juice released by them evaporates.
The meat, previously cleaned of veins and films, is cut into medium pieces of such a size that it is convenient to swallow.
Pieces of meat are fried over high heat in a well-heated frying pan until a crispy crust forms.
Nuance: if you fry the meat over low heat, then it will turn out to be dry and not tasty enough.
Next, finely chopped onions are added to the meat. The whole dish is fried over low heat until the onions are transparent.
Moving the meat aside, flour is poured into the heated oil. It is necessary to stir the dish periodically so that no lumps form.
Then you need to pour in the tomato sauce or pasta.
Until the flour begins to turn into lumps, you need to quickly pour the cooked broth or water into the meat so that the water almost covers the dish.
Mix everything well until smooth, add mushrooms, salt and pepper.
The dish is stewed over low heat until cooked. The meat should be soft. The braising time may vary depending on the type of meat.
The goulash is ready.
This dish is served as a side dish with mashed potatoes, various cereals, for example, buckwheat, as well as with pasta. The dish is best served hot in order to feel all the rich taste and rich aroma.
Goulash with mushrooms is very easy to prepare and available to every housewife.
Goulash with mushrooms and celery
This recipe is not quite familiar to the everyday menu, but quite appetizing, tasty and with a unique aroma. This dish is prepared in Hungarian restaurants. Its taste conquers with its hot pepper and garlic, as well as fragrant rosemary and thyme scent.
There are a lot of ingredients in this recipe: veal - about 700 grams, 5 pieces of potatoes, two bell peppers of different colors, chopped tomatoes in their juice - 0.5 kg, one chili pepper, 4 shallots, one carrot, three cloves of garlic, celery root, 150 grams of mushrooms (mushrooms are preferable), a bunch of thyme, a couple of rosemary branches, one teaspoon of caraway seeds, a couple of tablespoons of paprika, chopped chili - 0.5 teaspoon, salt and pepper to taste, one tablespoon of starch, ghee - 1 tbsp.
Rinse the veal, dry and cut into medium pieces.
Melt the butter in a cauldron or in a thick-walled saucepan, fry the meat until it has a characteristic crust.
The onion is cut into half rings, the garlic is finely chopped and added to the dish.
Next, peel and cut the carrots into small pieces and also send them to the veal with onions.
Separate the bell peppers from the cores and chop finely enough. Also chop hot peppers separately.
The celery root is cut into slices.
All chopped vegetables are laid out in goulash, followed by paprika, caraway seeds and dry chili. From above, everything is poured with one cup of water and stewed for about half an hour, adding 0.8 liters of water in portions.
While everything is stewing, the potatoes are cut into large pieces and sent to the goulash along with the tomatoes. Washed and chopped mushrooms are also added there.
Separately, starch is diluted in cold water and carefully, stirring, is introduced into the dish.
Add a little salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary to the dish.
Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
After turning off the stove, let it brew for about ten minutes.
Remove the thyme and rosemary from the dish before serving.
A fragrant, unique taste meal is ready. Such goulash will not leave indifferent even an exquisite gourmet.
It is important to remember: people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas should be wary of such ingredients in a dish as hot chili. In this case, it is better to exclude sharp components from the recipe.
Bon Appetit!
Some secrets and subtleties of cooking goulash
You don't need to use flour to thicken the sauce. You can pre-dissolve the starch in cold water, and then add to the recipe.
Vegetables and meat are allowed to be fried not only in pork fat, but also in butter or vegetable oil.
Various vegetables and even fruits are added in different goulash recipes. For example, you can add sauerkraut, legumes, noodles, prunes, spices, and herbs.
It is permissible to use wine instead of broth or water, and sour cream or mayonnaise instead of tomato sauce or pasta.
One way or another, goulash remains one of the favorite dishes in our country.
