This is one of my childhood's favorite foods. I was so happy every time my Mom cooked this. We have a rainy cold day in Palo Alto, so I thought some delicious comfort food, that reminds me of my childhood would be appropriate on such a day, to make us feel warm inside.
Paprikash is a Hungarian stew, but I am not sure this is the classical recipe, I just made it the way my Mom did. She usually made this with chicken wings, or thighs. I chose to make it with turkey wings. I just love the flavor and texture of it, sticky yummy deliciousness.
Here is what you need for 2 portions:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound meat : turkey wings (chicken wings, thighs, breast or even beef... your choice)
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 peeled and chopped tomatoes (about 1/2 cup)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon (or to taste) hot paprika, or other hot red pepper
2 tablespoons sour cream
Fresh parsley
For dumplings:
2 large eggs
1/2 and 1 tablespoon flour, sifted
Method:
Wash the meat thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. It is always best to cook meat when it is at room temperature, not directly out of the fridge.
Heat a large and quite deep saute pan on medium high heat, melt the butter, and brown the meat for 4-5 minutes o each side, until the skin gets golden and crunchy. Careful not to tear the skin when turning them. Also, if the pan is not deep enough , this can get messy, and even dangerous, as the butter will splash all around, so be careful, use some long thongs, and kitchen mitts.
When the skin is crispy, take them out of the pan, and set aside on a plate. Place the chopped onions and garlic in the same pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile place a pot with water with a big pinch of salt on heat and let it get to a simmer.
Add the tomato sauce over onions, mix well, cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes too, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Return the meat to pan, and add all seasoning, minus the sour cream and parsley. Stir everything, and let it simmer on low heat for 10 -15 minutes. If it gets a little dry, add some hot water from the pot you put to simmer.
While the meat cooks, prepare the dumplings.
In a medium bowl beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, then add the flour and mix well, until you get a sticky soft dough.
When the pot of water gets to a simmer, using a teaspoon, dipped in cold water first, take small dollops of dough and place them in the simmering water.
Even if the dough is very soft, it should come out of the teaspoon fairly easy, when you dip it all in the water, and take out the teaspoon. Do this with all the dough, you should get about 20-25 dumplings. Be careful for the water to be simmering, not boiling, so that the dumplings don't disintegrate. Cook them for 10-12 minutes. Stir slowly once or twice., after 4-5 minutes pass, not before. You will see them fluff up, and double in size.
When the 12 minutes pass, the meat must also be almost done, and all you have to do is to scoop the dumplings out of the water, and place them on top of the meat. Don't need to drain them, you can have some of the water in the sauce. Stir and let them cook all together for another 5-7 minutes.
Serve hot, with a tablespoon of sour cream on top. You can garnish with fresh parsley too (if you like parsley... I don't :P )
This is Tabak Borek, our favorite traditional Tatar dish. These are very small dumplings made of a simple dough (flour, egg, water and salt), filled with ground meat (beef and lamb) and onion. They are boiled in water, drained, and then topped with sizzling butter, red pepper flakes and garlic yogurt. It takes a long time to make but is so worth it.
This is a recipe for a small batch, as I make it for me and my hubby.
Prepare the filling:
Ingredients:
half pound minced lamb
half pound minced beef
one small or half large onion, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Mix everything with a fork, without overworking it.
The dough
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Method:
Sift the flour and salt, form a mound and make a hole in the middle. In a bowl lightly beat the eggs, water and olive oil.
Pour the mixture in the flour, and using your hands mix and work the dough. The dough should come together and feel supple and elastic, and a little soft. Add little more flour if needed.
Using a rolling pin or even an Italian pasta machine roll out the dough very thin, not as much as an yufka though.
Fold the dough and cut in 1 1.5 inch strips, then place the strips one on top of other and cut it in 1 1.5 inch squares.
Keep the dough squares covered with a damp towel, as the dough will dry fast otherwise, and you need to maintain it elastic.
Place a little of the filling , as much as a nickel, in the center of each dough square. Fold the dough in half, diagonally. Pick up the triangle, and turn it around your finger, in order to get the two long corners on top of another, then straighten it, to look like a tiny hat or "ear, as shown in the photo below.
It takes a little practice, but practice makes perfect!
I will do my best to add some photos as a guide for this traditional method. It is very time consuming, and usually this dish is prepared by more family members, for example me, my mom and sister would do this together. Of course if you want to make just a batch, it is not so hard, and does not take more then an hour total.
Put a large pot with water to boil. When you are done with all the tabak borek, dump them in the boiling water, and let boil for 5-7 minutes. Drain and place on the serving dish.
In a small sauce pan melt half stick of butter, and get it sizzling hot. Pour immediately over the tabak borek. Sprinkle over some crushed red pepper.
Traditionally we serve tabak borek hot with cold yogurt on top. You can also add minced garlic to the yogurt, as many Tatars, including me, prefer.
Ash bolsin!
