It’s a soup. Thick or with ample stock, what Hungarians call “hosszú lével”, gulyás is a pleasantly spicy, or fiery hot peppery soup. It can be made with either stock or water. Even though this one is made with sausages, the flavor is unmistakably gyulyás. Serve it with sour cream just like a gulyás. It never occurred to me to make gulyás from sausages, the idea came from cookta. My pet peeve is misused ingredients. One can’t claim authenticity with the wrong ingredients. Authentic Hungarian herbs and spices are Hungarian paprika [not Spanish], peppercorns, garlic, marjoram, caraway seeds [not cumin], flat leaf parsley [not cilantro], and dill.
Peasant Gulyás
3 slices of bacon, chopped
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
good pinch of caraway seeds, [don’t replace with cumin]
1 hot Hungarian sausage, sliced
1 Ukrainian sausage, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
2-3 potatoes, chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
salt and ground pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika
4 cups homemade pork stock or water [not chicken stock]
14% sour cream for serving
• Cut the bacon into strips and place it in a medium sized pot.
• Slice the sausages and set them aside.
• Wash, peel, slice and dice all the vegetables, and set them aside separately.
• Fry the bacon slightly on medium heat, but don’t brown it.
• Add 2 Tbsp of oil, the onions, garlic and the caraway seeds and sauté until the onions are translucent.
• Add the sausages and continue to sauté, turning them over, for a couple of minutes.
• Next add the tomato and the green pepper and continue to sauté for a few minutes longer.
• Add the potatoes and the carrots and season with salt and pepper.
• Add the Hungarian Paprika and give everything a good stir.
• Finally add the pork stock and slowly simmer until the potatoes and the carrots are well cooked.
• Adjust the salt and put a lid on the pot.
• Serve the gulyás in the pot with sour cream on the side.
The following day I added a chunk of sliced purple cabbage and the gulyás became a borsht.
