Goulash with Potato Pancakes {Placki ziemniaczane po węgiersku}

Anna

4 years ago

64 / 100

Goulash with Potato Pancakes

{Placki ziemniaczane po węgiersku}

Placki po węgiersku [plah-tzkee poh vew-ghye-rskoo] are a dish that was influenced by our friends to the South: Hungary. Goulash is rich in paprikas, tomatoes and herbs. It traveled to Poland a few centuries ago and took on a Polish twist. We serve it with our favorite crispy potato pancakes.

This dish is quite popular in Poland and it may have many iterations, depending on who’s making it. One common denominator: meat, lots of flavor and sauce.

Hungarian Style Goulash with Potato Pancakes {Placki ziemniaczane po węgiersku}

Yields: 35-40 pancakes
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 1.5 hr

Ingredients

Sauce:
2 lb / 1 kg of meat of choice (chicken breast, turkey breast, pork shoulder or stew beef)
2 red bell peppers
1 tsp of caraway seed
1/2 tbs of salt
1 tsp of tri color pepper corns
1/4 - 1/2 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp of oil or lard
3 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
5 - 6 peppercorns and allspice berries
3 tbs of tomato paste
4 c / 1 l of water
2 carrots
1 parsley or parsnip root
3 in / 5 cm piece of celery root (or 1 celery stalk)
4 tbs of all purpose flour
3/4 c of cold water
Pancakes:
4 lbs / 2 kg of raw potatoes
2 onions
4 eggs
1 cup / 120 g of all purpose flour
2 tsp of salt
Grease (oil or lard) for frying

Instructions

Place bell peppers over gas burner or under the broiler and char. After it’s all black, place in a bowl and cover. Let sit for a few minutes, then pull skin off, rinse and dice. Dice meat, add ground up caraway seed, pepper corns and the rest of the spices. Mix to coat.
Heat oil in a large roasting pan or a stewing pot, add meat and start sautèing. Add sliced garlic and keep cooking for another few minutes. Add bay leaves, peppercorns and allspice berries and tomato paste. Mix well. Add water, sliced carrots, parsley/parsnip root and celery root. Set heat to low and simmer until meat is tender (about 20 - 35 minutes).
Put a colander lined with a cheese cloth over a bowl. Peel potatoes and onions. Keep potatoes on cold water so that they don’t turn brown. On the medium side of a box shredder shred onions (first) and potatoes. Transfer your mixture onto a colander bring the edges of the cheese cloth together to squeeze out the moisture. Save the liquid. Transfer potato/onion mixture into a bowl, add lightly beaten eggs, flour and salt.
On the bottom of the liquid that collected in the bowl you will see a thin layer of potato starch. Slowly pour liquid out but leave the starch behind and add it to your potato/onion mixture. Mix together until combined.
Heat oil/lard in a pan and fry thinly layered pancakes until golden brown on both sides. Keep pancakes warm until serving.
To finish the sauce add diced red peppers. Mix flour and cold water well (no lumps) and add to simmering sauce. Bring to boil.
Taste, add a bit more salt if needed. Serve over pancakes garnished with parsley and a dollop of sour cream.