Chicken Paprikas with Dumplings- Romanian recipe (Paprikas de Pui)

Chicken Paprikas is a great dinner idea and it’s pretty easy to make. This is definitely one of my kids favorite dish! Usually I make a double quantity of dumplings as they want extras.

I have this recipe from my mom but it’s a Hungarian inspired recipe and there are different variations so you can definitely make this your own and if you feel something else is needed, maybe you have a favorite vegetable you want to add or change the meat type go ahead. What makes paprikas a paprikas is the tomato sauce, paprika and the dumplings – those are an insanely delicious combination so keep those in your recipe.

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

• 4 pounds boneless chicken cut into cubes (this time I used boneless chicken tights but chicken breast also works great)
• 4-5 TBSP cooking oil
• 2 large yellow onions – chopped
• 2 large peppers – chopped
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 TBSP corn starch (optional)
• Dumplings (recipe provided below) – Ingredients for Dumplings– 3 eggs, 1 cup flour, a pinch of salt

Directions

• Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces
• Heat the oil and cook the chopped onion. Remove from heat and add the ground paprika, salt and pepper
• Add the chicken pieces and cook for few minutes while stirring (until golden)
• Add 1 cup water
• Add chopped peppers
• Add 4 – 5 cups water (enough to cover the chicken) and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let the chicken cook until tender
• Add the tomato pulp – cut the tomatoes in half and grate them using the corse grater, discard the skin
• Let the tomato pulp cook for 5 minutes
• Add dumplings and let them cook for about 5 minutes, without stirring, when the dumplings are cooked they will rise to the top (before you add the dumplings, make sure there is enough sauce for them to cook, otherwise add more water and bring to boil before adding the dumplings)
• Optional, if you prefer a thicker sauce mix 1 TBSp of corn starch with 1 cup of the paprikas sauce and add to the pot, stir and let it cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens

Directions for Dumpling

• Beat eggs and salt with a fork
• Add flour gradually until mixture is holding together and is not sticky (you can add more flour if the mixture is sticky)
• Dip a tablespoon into the paprikas sauce and spoon the dumpling dough into the pot (deep the tablespoon in the sauce before each dumpling)
• Cook until the dumplings rise to the top

Enjoy and also try the Hungarian Chicken Paprikas or the Czech Chicken Paprikas recipe!