Ingredients
1 fat chicken
2 tbsp olive oil
a large knob of butter
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tbsp flour
250ml chicken stock
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 1cm strips
4 large, ripe tomatoes (or 6 tinned will do)
250ml sour cream or smetana (thick sour cream)
Method
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Joint the chicken (or get your butcher to do it). Rub the meat with salt, then brown in the oil and butter and set aside. In the same pan, sweat the onions and garlic for about 5 mins. Add the paprika, then the flour, and stir till blended. Don't burn it!
-
Add most of the stock, then stir for 5 mins to make the thick gravy base, then add the chicken pieces. Add the rest of the stock (and then some boiling water) if it looks a bit dry. Mix in half of the parsley and bring to
the boil, then add the red pepper. Simmer for 10 mins, add the tomatoes, then cook over a low heat for about 1 hr. -
When the chicken is cooked, add the sour cream and the remaining parsley. Adjust the seasoning and serve with lemon and black-pepper spaetzles (a Romanian cross between noodles and gnocchi), mashed potato or rice.
