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    Meat · Recipe · Hungary · Reference page

    Bogrács gulyás

    bográcsgulyás

    Hungarian goulash as it is made in a kettle: beef braised with onion, sweet paprika, caraway and garlic, then cooked on with potatoes, yellow peppers and tomato, and finished with tiny pinched egg noodles called csipetke. Stephen Oroszvari's recipe, published by SBS, sits between a soup and a stew.

    Bogracs gulyas with beef,potatoes,yellow pepper and tiny pinched pasta in paprika broth.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    6
    Preparation
    30 min
    Cooking
    2 h 15
    Total
    2 h 45
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Heavy wide pan or kettle (bogrács) with a lid
    Servings6

    Ingredients

    • The goulash

    • Csipetke

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the onion until golden. Reduce the heat to low and add half the paprika.

      Why Paprika scorches easily and turns bitter; lowering the heat first protects it.

    2. Stirring quickly, add the beef, salt, caraway, garlic and a little cold water. Let it braise, not boil, stirring now and then, for 1½ to 2 hours, adding a splash of water when it gets dry.

      Timer · 1 h 45105:00

    3. While the meat cooks, cut the vegetables into 1 cm pieces. Mix the flour and egg into a firm dough, knead well and rest it, then pinch off and roll pieces about the size of a large rice grain.

    4. Before the meat is fully tender, reduce the pan juices and add the vegetables with the remaining paprika.

    5. When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the csipetke and enough water to give the consistency you like. Simmer until the pasta is just cooked and serve with crusty bread.

      Timer · 10 min10:00

    To drink & serve with

    • Eger

      Editorial suggestion: a Hungarian red such as Egri Bikavér.

    Substitutions

    • Hungarian yellow peppers → Sweet banana chillies or any mild, thin-walled pepper.
    • Csipetke (gluten-free) → Leave them out; the potatoes already make it filling.

    Common mistakes

    • Using smoked Spanish paprika: it changes the dish completely. Use Hungarian sweet paprika.
    • Boiling the meat hard in a lot of water at the start: it should braise in its own juices.

    Storage & reheating

    Cool quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 2 days. The pasta softens on reheating.

    Safety

    Contains gluten and egg (csipetke). Long-braised beef is far above safe cooking temperatures.

    Allergens

    Gluten · Egg

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    dairy-free

    A kettle dish

    Bogrács is the cauldron hung over an open fire, and bográcsgulyás the goulash cooked in it. Stephen Oroszvari's recipe, published by SBS, keeps the outdoor logic in a kitchen pan: one pot, beef, onion and paprika, potatoes added late, and hand-pinched egg noodles at the end. SBS describes the result as somewhere between a soup and a stew, a meal in a bowl that needs only bread.

    [1]

    Paprika twice

    Half the paprika goes into the fat with the onions over a low heat, so it colours the base without burning; the rest goes in with the vegetables, for a fresher, sweeter note. The meat braises in very little water for an hour and a half or more. Only once it is nearly tender are the juices reduced, the vegetables added and the pot topped up with water for the csipetke.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Hungary In preparation

    Cut

    Wine region

    Recipe

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