Chickpea paprikash with dumplings
Chickpeas in a velvety, brick-red paprika and sour cream sauce over tender little homemade dumplings, the Hungarian comfort classic made meatless and just as soul-warming.
- 55 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $2.10 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ cups vegetable broth
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tbsp
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 610 calories, 23 g protein, 81 g carbs and 22 g fat, and costs about $2.10 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring a large pot of water with 1 teaspoon salt over high heat for the dumplings.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Meanwhile, 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large over medium heat.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Add the onion and pepper and cook 7 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
Medium heat
Take the pan off the heat, stir in the paprika, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon flour, then pour in the broth and stir until smooth.
Dolly’s tip: Paprika burns in a hot pan, so it goes in off the heat.Add the chickpeas and ½ teaspoon salt, put the pan back over medium heat, and 10 minutes, until .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
For the dumplings, the eggs, water and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl, then stir in 1½ cups flour until you have a thick, sticky batter.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Spread some batter on a small cutting board and, holding it over the boiling water, scrape little strips into the pot with a knife. Work in two batches.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Dip the knife in the hot water between strips so the batter slides right off.2 to 3 minutes, until the dumplings float and are cooked through, then scoop them out, , and with the last tablespoon of butter.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 3 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Turn the sauce to low and stir in the sour cream and pepper until smooth. Serve over the dumplings with parsley.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Low heat keeps the sour cream silky. A boil can make it curdle.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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