Traditional Hungarian Gulyásleves (Gulyás Soup)
This is an authentic (un-Americanized) family recipe for Hungarian gulyásleves (pronounced GOOL-yash LEV-esh), or goulash soup. If you order gulyásleves in a restaurant in Hungary, this is what you’ll get.
Submitted by: Karina from Iowa City, Iowa
Preparation Instructions:
1. Heat lard/oil at medium-low heat in a heavy 6-8 qt Dutch oven or stew pot. Sauté onions until glossy and transparent. Do not brown.
2. Add the beef to the onions and stir to combine. Cook onions and beef for approximately ten minutes, until the meat has turned brown.
3. While the beef cooks, mince and crush the garlic cloves with a pinch of coarse kosher salt and the pinch of caraway seeds. With the flat side of a large knife, smear the garlic/salt/caraway mixture back and forth against the cutting board to create a paste and extract the flavor from the caraway.
4. Once the beef has turned brown and released most of its water, add the paprika and garlic mixture to the beef and onions. Stir until the paprika is evenly blended in, then add 2 1/2 qts of warm water or stock. Do not use cold liquid, or you will shock the meat and make it tough. Add salt to taste.
5. Cover the pot and simmer for approximately one hour, depending on the toughness of the meat cut.
6. While the meat simmers, prepare the remaining ingredients. Skin the tomato by soaking it in boiling water for a few minutes, then peeling away the skin. Chop the tomato into 3/4-inch cubes. Core the two green peppers and slice into rings. Peel and chop the potatoes into 3/4-inch cubes.
7. After the meat has simmered for about an hour and is softening, add the tomato and green pepper and enough water to bring the soup to your desired consistency. Check salt and add more if necessary. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
8. Add the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are finished. Check and adjust salt as necessary. Serve with a good crusty bread and some red wine.
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More About This Recipe
You can add other root vegetables to this dish too. Turnips and parsnips are good choices.
This is very similar to a recipe I received from a delightful busha (grandmother) in Budapest who made just the guly’as for her son’s restaurant in Budapest. The big differences are:
Add the paprika to the onions before adding the meat and cook about 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.
Add the garlic, caraway, salt pepper and bay leaf after the meat has cooked a few minutes.
Make Csipetke (pinch) dumplings and add them with chopped celery leaf at the very end and boil for 4-5 minutes before serving.
This recipe was very good, I used parsnips instead of potatoes and it turned out great.
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