When I first posted this chicken paprikash in 2016, I made it in a pressure cooker with two tins of tomatoes and not nearly enough paprika. Then I went to Hungary, where I was told that every meal starts with onions and paprika and you work from there, and the old recipe suddenly looked all wrong. This is the rebuilt version: lots of slowly cooked onion, paprika stirred in off the heat so it doesn’t burn, chicken thighs simmered on the stove and sour cream to finish. It isn’t strictly authentic, because I’ve added a little smoked paprika and cayenne to make it more interesting, but it is quick, cheap and made from things I always have. Serve it over something plain to soak up the sauce.

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

Serves 4. About 15 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.

Ingredients

• 30g butter or oil
• 2 brown onions (about 280g), finely diced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 medium capsicum, green or red, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic from a jar, or 3 fresh cloves, chopped
• 20g mild (sweet) paprika (2 tablespoons), plus 2 teaspoons extra for the sour cream
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• 600g chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless, cut into large chunks
• 250ml water
• 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons raw sugar (1 teaspoon if using red capsicum)
• Juice of ½ lime or lemon
• 200g full-fat sour cream
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Rice, pasta, egg noodles or mashed potato, to serve

Method

1. Melt 30g butter or oil in a large, deep frying pan or heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the 280g diced onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden but not browned.
2. Add the diced capsicum and 1 tablespoon minced garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the capsicum starts to soften.
3. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in 20g (2 tablespoons) mild paprika and 1 tablespoon tomato sauce until the onions are well coated. Paprika burns and turns bitter very quickly, so do this off the heat.
4. Return the pan to medium heat. Add the 600g chicken chunks and turn them through the paprika onions for 2 minutes. There is no need to brown the chicken.
5. Add 250ml water, 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, ½ teaspoon pepper and 2 teaspoons raw sugar. Stir and bring to a simmer.
6. Partly cover with the lid ajar and simmer on low to medium heat for about 35 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the onions don’t catch. Leaving the lid ajar allows it to reduce. It is ready when the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced enough that a spoon dragged across the base of the pan leaves a trail.
7. Stir in the juice of ½ lime or lemon. Taste and add salt only if it needs it, as the stock powder and fish sauce are both salty.
8. In a small bowl, mix 200g full-fat sour cream with the extra 2 teaspoons mild paprika, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika and ⅛ teaspoon cayenne. Stir a ladle of the hot sauce into the sour cream to warm it.
9. Turn the heat to low, stir the sour cream mixture into the pan and warm through for 5 minutes. Do not let it boil or the sour cream may split.
10. Serve over rice, pasta, egg noodles or mashed potato.

Notes

Sour cream: use full-fat. Light sour cream and yoghurt are both more likely to split. There is no flour in this recipe, so the sauce is thickened by simmering with the lid ajar.

Capsicum: green capsicum is closer to what is used in Hungary but tastes a little grassy, which is why there is sugar in the recipe. With red capsicum, cut the sugar back to 1 teaspoon.

Paprika: check that yours is fresh, as stale paprika tastes of very little. For a more traditional version leave out the smoked paprika and cayenne.

Tomato: 1 tablespoon tomato paste can be used in place of the tomato sauce.

Make ahead: the flavour improves after a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Reheat gently without boiling.

Freezing: for the best texture, freeze before adding the sour cream and stir it in when reheating. Keeps for 3 months in the freezer.