Paprikás krumpli is a typical homemade dish, you can’t eat it in restaurants. It takes only 25-30 minutes to prepare this great stew, so it’s ideal for summer cookouts. It can be cooked on the stove or in bogrács, no matter what you choose, the quality of the paprikás krumpli depends on 3 ingredients: potato, grease and paprika.

It’s important to use waxy potatoes that hold their shape well after cooking. Concerning grease lard is the only acceptable alternative (rendered lard of smoked bacon is the best), oil would be equivalent to a sacrilege in this case. Paprika should be Hungarian, failing that buy the best paprika available near your home.

Though potato is stodgy enough in itself and pairing it with noodles is against common sense, there is a large group of people (my family is also included) who make paprikás krumpli with nokedli, egg barley or pinched noodles. Good timing is essential, noodles have to be added to the stew before potatoes are done.
Potato stew is best served with fermented cucumbers, but it also goes well with cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg (~2 1/4 lbs) potatoes
• 80-100 g (~2 – 3 1/2 oz) bacon, chopped
• 100 g (~3 1/2 oz) sausage, sliced
• 1 big onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 wax pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, diced

For the nokedli:

• 100 g (~3/4 cup) flour
• 1 egg
• 50 ml (~1/4 cup) water

Peel the potatoes, wash, and cut them into quarters. In a stew pot (or Hungarian kettle) slowly fry the chopped bacon until it releases enough lard. Add sausages and fry them as well. Add onions, a little later finely chopped garlic and sauté until translucent. Add potatoes, diced pepper and tomato, stir in paprika, then pour in water to barely cover the potatoes. Salt and over low heat slowly simmer until potatoes are nearly done.

In the meantime make the nokedli batter. In a bowl mix together flour, egg and water. If it’s necessary, add more water to the stew, wait until it boils again and push the batter through the nokedli maker into the stew. Cook the noodles for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let paprikás krumpli rest for a couple of minutes before serving. Best served with fermented cucumbers.