RECIPE: CHICKEN PAPRIKA - HAIRY BIKERS STYLE

One of my favourite cooking shows is the Hairy Bikers. It has two misfits, Simon King and David Myers, who travel all around the world on their motorbikes, learning the culture and cooking the cuisine of the countries they visit. This is one of the dishes they made on their journey to Transylvania – yes, it does exist and it is the birth place of ‘Vlad the Impaler’ aka ‘Dracula’.


Don’t be put off with the look of the dish. The dollops of cream added to the meal at the end makes it look as if it has curdled. The proof of this dish is in the taste, not the pictures. Try it, you won’t be disappointed....it is DELICIOS!!!


Ingredients

1 large chicken, jointed

salt
2 tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
1 onion - chopped
2-3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika (this is not hot chilli powder)
1 tbsp flour
285ml chicken stock
3 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 red capsicums - de-seeded and cut into 1cm strips
4 large ripe tomatoes - roughly chopped
250ml oz sour cream

Method

Rub the chicken pieces with salt. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan and brown the chicken all over for a few minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set to one side.

To the same pan, add the onions and garlic and sweat for about five minutes. Add the sweet and hot paprika, then the flour, and stir until combined - take care not to burn it.

Add the stock and stir. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, adding a bit more stock if the mixtures seems too dry.

Add half of the chopped parsley and bring to the boil. Add the red capsicum strips, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and simmer gently for about one hour.

When the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sour cream and the remaining parsley. Check the seasoning and serve with hot crusty bread.

Hairy Bikers Si King and Dave Myers