Beef Chuck Gulyás

Ingredients

• 1 lb Beef Chuck, cut into ¾-inch cubes
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 2 tbsp lard or oil
• 2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Carrots, cut into coins
• 1 Parsnip, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 5 cups water or beef stock
• 1 tomato and 1 Hungarian wax pepper (or ½ bell pepper), chopped

Method

1. Sweat the onions in the lard over medium-low until golden and sweet — 10 unhurried minutes; gulyás is built on onions, not rushed over them.
2. Off the heat, stir in the paprika, then immediately add the Beef Chuck, caraway, garlic, and a splash of water. Return to the heat and stir until the meat is coated in rust-red.
3. Simmer, covered, 1 hour, adding water only as needed — this stage is a stew pretending to be a soup.
4. Add the Carrots, Parsnip, potato, tomato, and pepper with the rest of the water. Simmer 25 minutes more until the vegetables are tender and the broth tastes deep and faintly smoky.
5. Season, rest 10 minutes, and serve with bread — or drop in small pinched noodles (csipetke) if you're feeling ancestral.