Hungarian Veal Goulash

When DH and I were honeymooning in Europe, we spent a glorious week in Austria. It was absolutely beautiful and it was our week to relax, do a little bit of sightseeing, but mainly regroup and rest for the next leg of our trip. We went to a few bookstores to try and buy some culinary cookbooks as momentoes from our trip. One book we picked up was Culinary Austria by Helmut Deutsch. To match the winter weather here in Sydney I wanted to try the Veal Goulash and recreate some of the magic I spoke about here

Love this photo taken in Austria on our honeymoon

What you will need:
600g Veal Shoulder, cut into chunks
2 medium Onions, finely chopped
50g Butter
1½ Tbsp Paprika
1 Garlic Clove, sliced or crushed
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
125ml Sour Cream
125ml Pouring/Thin Cream
1 Tbsp Flour

Ingredients

The instructions in the book aren't the best and I think it's because the book has been translated into English, but I did my best! 


In a large saucepan melt the butter and sauté the onions and paprika until the onions start to go soft.

Onion & Paprika 

This is where the recipe got a little tricky. The recipe doesn't mention water until this point nor does it mention how much water to use, so all of the water measurements are my guestimates. Add half a cup of water, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. 

Ingredients in to simmer 

Add the veal chunks, tomato paste and water (I probably added a little too much so in retrospect I would add maybe 1 cup and see how you go, it's easier to add than take away). Simmer this gently, partially covered, until the meat is tender. The timing of this will depend on how big your veal chunks are. To test for tenderness, pull a piece out with a fork and try it.  

Sauce 

When the meat is tender, pour the sauce through a sieve and keep the sauce and meat separate. Combine the flour and sour cream and add to the sauce.

Flour & Sour Cream

It will appear very unappetising (like the photo below) but the sour cream will melt into the sauce.  

Flour & Sour Cream mixture into the sauce

Add the pouring/thin cream to the sauce and allow to boil until thickened. Careful that it doesn't over boil like mine did so you end up with  a saucy mess on the stovetop. Pour the sauce back into the saucepan with the meat and heat until the meat is hot again. This shouldn't take too long. 

Sauce back in with the meat

Serve with mash potatoes, butter noodles or spatzle (German pasta). 

Hungarian Veal Goulash

Next time I will try it with beef. For us, the veal was a little to tough, which could also  come down to not knowing exactly how long to cook the meat for or how much water to use. But the sauce was sensational. 

For more step by step photos visit my Facebook page here