Chicken Thighs Paprikash

Ingredients

• 2 lb Chicken Thighs
• 2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika (fresh jar if possible — it fades fast)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 Bell Pepper, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup chicken stock
• ¾ cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp flour
• 8 oz egg noodles, buttered, to serve
• Fresh dill or parsley

Method

1. Season the Chicken Thighs and brown it in the butter over medium-high, about 4 minutes a side. Remove — it finishes in the sauce.
2. Soften the onion and Bell Pepper in the drippings, 5 minutes. Pull the pan OFF the heat and stir in the paprika for 30 seconds — paprika scorches into bitterness over direct flame.
3. Return to the heat, add the stock, and nestle the Chicken Thighs back in. Simmer gently, covered, 15–18 minutes until tender and cooked through.
4. Whisk the flour into the sour cream, then temper it: stir a ladle of hot sauce into the cream before adding it all back to the pan. This is the anti-curdling insurance policy.
5. Warm through without boiling until the sauce is blush-orange velvet. Serve over buttered noodles with dill scattered on top.