Chicken pörkölt without cream: onions thicken the sauce for dumplings or macaroni

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Sauté the onions

   15 min

   Finely chop the onions. Melt the lard in a pot and sauté the onions over low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Do not let them brown.

2. Add the paprika

   2 min

   Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the ground paprika, and immediately add the water. Paprika quickly turns bitter in hot fat.

3. Braise the thighs

   30 min

   Pat the thighs dry with a paper towel, season with salt, and add them to the pot along with the crushed garlic. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. The thighs will release their juices; add water only a tablespoon at a time if the contents start to scorch.

4. Add the vegetables

   25 min

   Cut the green bell peppers into strips, dice the tomato, and slice the hot chili pepper into rings. Add them to the chicken and simmer uncovered for about 20 more minutes, until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. The onions will break down as they cook and thicken the sauce.

5. Serve

   3 min

   Adjust the salt to taste and serve the pörkölt with halušky dumplings or cooked elbow macaroni.

Tip: With boneless thighs, the pörkölt takes about 10 minutes less to simmer. Cook the dumplings or elbow macaroni toward the end so they do not stick together. Read more: Lard in the kitchen: baking and frying

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Šťavnatý kurací perkelt bez smotany: omáčku zahustí cibuľa a hodí sa k haluškám aj kolienkam