We have already explained how to prepare goulash, the Hungarian national dish.
Today we are cooking a potato goulash, as it is known in Austria. There it is called “ Erdäpfelgulasch”, as in most of Austria potatoes are literally named ground apples.
This dish features the typical seasoning of Hungarian goulash. Otherwise, potato goulash does not require any meat at all and can easily be prepared vegan. In Austria, however, it is often eaten with sausage.
The basic ingredient is potatoes, which can be either waxy or floury varieties. The latter make the sauce a little creamier. Today we use red-skinned potatoes, which have a consistency that is about medium. They are accompanied by onions and garlic.
Tomato paste, flour and stock are essential – this can be vegetable or meat stock. Ground caraway seeds, dried marjoram, paprika powder and the zest of untreated lemon are needed for the aroma of goulash. We prefer smoked paprika powder (e.g. Spanish Pimentón de la Vera) and a little cayenne for spiciness.
If sausage is used, then in Austria this would often be a “Braunschweiger”, a boiled sausage. Otherwise, spicy Debrecziner, Cabanossi or Polish Kielbasa are suitable.
Some of the potatoes could be replaced with sweet potatoes, and any root vegetables such as carrots, celeriac, parsley root and parsnips are also great for this dish. You can also use bell pepper, just don’t cook it for too long as it takes much less time than the other vegetables.
The potatoes are peeled and cut into pieces, for which we recommend a Japanese cutting technique, the Rangiri style. This way, the pieces are all roughly the same size, but look totally different.
Then we melt butter (alternative: olive oil) in a large pot over a medium-high heat and patiently sweat not too finely chopped onions until they take on some color – this takes about 5 minutes. Only then do we add the chopped garlic, which we sauté briefly.
The potatoes go into the pot next and if you want to use other root vegetables, this is the right time to do so.
After about 4 more minutes, we create some space and roast the tomato paste directly on the bottom of the pot so that it can also take on some color and lose some of its acidity.
Then caraway seeds, marjoram, paprika powder and flour are added and everything is thoroughly mixed…
… poured over with the stock and the base of the dish is ready.
This now simmers with the lid on for about 25 – 30 minutes until the potatoes and any other vegetables are cooked. If you want to use bell peppers, add the pieces after about 15 minutes, which is sufficient. The sauce will gradually become thicker during this time, partly because of the flour and partly because of the starch released by the potatoes. In certain recipes, some of the potatoes are mashed for even more creaminess, but we don’t like it that way.
To finish, season with finely grated lemon zest, salt and pepper. As always, this must be an untreated lemon that has been thoroughly rinsed under hot water and, as always, only the yellow part of the peel should be used – the white part underneath is not lemony, only bitter. If you want to use sausage, add it now.
After another 10 – 15 minutes, a hearty, versatile and simple dish is cooked, which only needs to be seasoned to taste one last time with salt, pepper and/or lemon juice.
As with goulash, bread is the perfect side dish.
Genießt es.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients ( for 4 people):
800 g potatoes (waxy or mealy or a mixture of both)
4 tbsp butter (alternatively: olive oil)
2 – 3 onions
4 cloves of garlic
Either:
200 g sausage, Braunschweiger, Debrecziner, Polish Kielbasa, or like us: Cabanossi
And / or:
Sweet potatoes
Root vegetables of your choice, for example carrots, celeriac, parsley root, parsnip
Also suitable:
Bell pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp flour
2 tsp ground caraway seeds
3 tsp dried marjoram
3 tsp smoked paprika powder (or sweet paprika powder)
Optional: a little cayenne
1.5 l stock (vegetable, chicken or beef stock)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
To taste: lemon juice, salt and pepper
