Paprika Hendi has an association with Bram Stoker's Dracula as evidenced by the following quote from the book:
“We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh. Here I stopped for the night at the Hotel Royale. I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty. (mem. get recipe for Mina.) I asked the waiter, and he said it was called "paprika hendl" and that, as it was a national dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the Carpathians. I found my smattering of German very useful here; indeed, I don't know how I should be able to get on without it.”
Transylvania, in Stoker's time, was associated with Hungary and not with Romania, which didn't incorporate Transylvania until after world war one. This is a Transylvanian dish with Hungarian origins, and the German name of the dish is a result of the fact that it was prepared by people of Austro-Hungarian descent. Said dish was eaten by traveling guests who were looking out the window of a hotel (located in a town with Saxon origins) at the Carpathian mountains in what is now the Romanian province of Transylvania.
PAPRIKA HENDL - From Foods Of The World. Thanks Ron!
Ingredients:
-Up to 2 chickens, cut up, or equivalent (i used eight thighs plus six legs)
-2 large onions, diced
-About 9 cloves of garlic, peeled
-2 Quarts tomato juice or V8 (preferred) - (V8 is the simplest way to add tomato juice with vegetable stock)
-24 Oz container of sour cream
-2 TBSP flour
-2 TSP salt
-1 TSP pepper
-7 or 8 heaping tablespoons Hungarian Sweet Paprika.
-4 or 5 TBSP chicken fat, butter or olive oil
Directions:
For this recipe, rendered chicken fat is best. if you choose not to use that, then butter is the next best alternative. olive oil will work, but results will not be as good.
If you choose to skin the chicken, browning is not necessary or desirable; simply render the fat from the skin or heat some butter or olive oil, and proceed to cooking the onions.
If you leave the skin on, brown chicken in a small amount of butter or olive oil in a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven; set aside in a covered dish and remove all but 4 to 5 tablespoons of rendered chicken fat.
Add diced onions to skillet/Dutch oven; slowly cook the onions over medium heat until they just begin to caramelize; then add the garlic and sweat it out for a minute or three. before the garlic can brown, remove pot from heat, add salt and pepper and stir in half the paprika. Stir everything together off the heat until the paprika begins to release its oils and darken, then add all but a cup or two of the V-8 juice. Stir to mix, then return to heat and bring just to the beginnings of a simmer. Place chicken back in the pot, pouring the released juices all over. heat to a simmer, then cover and simmer the chicken in the sauce for about an hour, or until chicken is done but not falling off the bone. remove chicken from pot and keep covered so it stays warm.
Beat flour and remaining paprika into sour cream, reserving a small amount of sour cream for serving. Gently fold sour cream mixture into the sauce, stirring with a whisk to fully incorporate. Bring to a simmer in order to cook the flour into the sauce and thicken it. if sauce becomes too thick, add remaining V8 juice and stir. Return the chicken to the pot, cover and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes to heat throughout. taste and adjust for seasoning.
Serve with dumplings, noodles or potatoes done your favorite way; top chicken and side dish with a few small dots of sour cream.
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