Gemüsegulasch (vegetable goulash)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a 4 litre pot over medium heat and sweat the onion, garlic and pepper with a pinch of salt for 8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
2. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the sweet and hot paprika, caraway and tomato paste, and stir for 30 seconds off the heat. Paprika scorches and turns bitter within seconds on a hot pan, which is why the pot comes off the burner first.
3. Return to the heat, add the canned tomatoes and stir to loosen everything from the base of the pot.
4. Potatoes, carrot, broth, bay leaf and marjoram in. Bring to a simmer, then turn down until it barely bubbles.
5. Simmer 20 minutes, until a knife slides into a potato chunk with no resistance and the peppers have softened but kept their shape.
6. Fish out the bay leaf, then season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve with a dollop of sour cream if using, and parsley scattered over at the table.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl.

1. Garlic into the dry bowl. Chop 3 sec / speed 6. Add the onion and pepper, roughly chopped, and chop 4 sec / speed 5.
2. Add the oil. Sauté 8 min / 120 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off, until the onion is soft.
3. Add the sweet and hot paprika, caraway and tomato paste. Mix 10 sec / speed 1, no heat. Cooking the paprika at a set 120 °C in the following step, rather than on a hot open pan, is what keeps it from scorching.
4. Add the canned tomatoes, potatoes, carrot, broth, bay leaf and marjoram. Cook 20 min / 100 °C / speed 1, measuring cup on so it does not spit.
5. Remove the bay leaf, then season with salt and pepper. Mix 10 sec / reverse / speed 1 to combine without breaking the potatoes up. Taste through the lid and correct.
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream if using, and parsley at the table.

Notes

• Take the pot off the heat before the paprika goes in. This is the one step that separates a good gulasch from a bitter one; paprika burns in seconds on residual heat, and there is no fixing it once it has.
• Two grades of paprika beat one. Sweet for body, hot for a background warmth rather than a punch. Adjust the ratio to taste; the dish should be warm, not fierce.
• This is better the next day, once the caraway and marjoram have had time to work into the vegetables, and it freezes well without the sour cream.
• Dumplings or crusty bread are the traditional accompaniments; rice works too if that is what is in the house.

Ingredient substitutions

• Bell pepper can be all red for a sweeter pot, or include a green one for a sharper, more traditional edge.
• Sour cream can be crème fraîche, or left off entirely for a dairy-free version; the stew is well seasoned enough to carry itself without it.
• Caraway seeds can be left out if unavailable, though they are what gives Gulasch its characteristic aroma rather than tasting like a generic paprika stew.
• For a version with meat, brown 400 g diced beef chuck in the oil before the onion, and extend the simmer to 1 hour 30 minutes so the meat becomes tender.

From Christoph Mayer

Enjoyed this? Buy us a coffee ☕