Authentic Hungarian Mushroom Stew
This Hungarian mushroom stew is an authentic, comforting, and easy dish, which is very popular. It is a typical light dinner served with nokedli dumplings. I show you how me and my Hungarian family makes it every time.
Servings 4 servings
Calories 72kcal
Equipment
- Cast-iron Dutch Oven (3-quart / 2.8 liter)
- Stockpot
Ingredients
- 17 oz Button mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 Onion (medium)
- 2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 Hungarian Wax Pepper
- 2 cup Vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp Sweet smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
Instructions
Preparing the ingredients
- Peel and chop onion and garlic. Wash and chop potatoes, tomatoes, and Hungarian wax pepper. Clean and slice mushrooms.
Making the stew
- Heat a large pan. Add mushroom slices and fry them on high heat for 5-6 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan, if needed do this step in batches. Mushroom should be fried and not cooked. Remove the mushrooms to a plate.
- Add oil to the same pan. Cook the chopped onion for 3-4 minutes.
- Now, add chopped tomatoes, Hungarian wax pepper and garlic. Season the stew with salt, pepper and cumin. Stir and cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Add the smoked paprika powder and stir until combined.
- Then, pour the vegetable broth. Cook the stew on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. You should have a thick sauce at the end with only a few chunks. If needed use a hand blender to make the sauce smoother.
- Add the fried mushrooms back in the pan. Combine well and once it reaches boiling it is ready.
Notes
Don't cook but fry the mushrooms, this way the mushrooms do not lose too much liquid and will have a better texture at the end. To make this happen you need a really hot pan with no oil in it. Do not overcrowd the pan otherwise it will cool down the pan and eventually you will cook the mushrooms instead of frying them.
Onions, garlic, tomatoes and Hungarian wax pepper will give the base of this stew. When cooking them at step 3, don't rush it. Give time to tomatoes and pepper to soften and turn into a soft saucey form will give this stew the thickness we are looking for.
If you prefer a really smooth sauce use a hand blender to crush the remaining chunks of tomatoes and peppers before adding back the fried mushrooms into the pan.