Peel and cut up very
finely at least 2 lbs of onions. In a heavy bottom pan (dutch
oven), sauté the onions in lard—we never cooked with
butter. Add about a half tablespoon of salt. The
onions should become very soft and limp and taste
sweet. You will also notice they shrink and it's not as
much as it first seemed.
Meanwhile cut up the
meat, chicken, pork, beef or veal.
When the onions are
ready add a couple of tablespoons on paprika, stir it
thoroughly and immediately add the meat. Stir it
all together, reduce the heat to medium low and cover.
One or two banana peppers (sweet or hot, a hot one will
make the whole dish hot) may also be added. Do not add
water at this time. Stir occasionally and keep covered.
At first there will be
a lot of juice from the meat. Gradually this juice will
evaporate and you will need to add water, no more than
half a cup at a time. Turn the heat lower if necessary.
When the meat is almost soft you may add a few cut up
potatoes. You can gradually add more water, a
little at a time, depending how soupy you want the
goulash. The sauce should be quite thick from the
onions. It was usually eaten with a fork and fresh
bread. Pickled peppers go well with this.
If
using chicken add the potatoes with the
meat, as chicken cooks quite fast.
Mahlzeit!
