Chicken Paprikash 🍗 Vojvodina Style 🇷🇸 (Pileći Paprikaš)

Description

Velvety paprika gravy with tender chicken and soft drop-dumplings—comforting, brick-red, and deeply aromatic. 🍲🌶️

Hook: Silky, paprika-rich stew with noklice in about 1 hour—pure tavern comfort. ⚡

Ingredients

• 🐔 Bone-in chicken pieces (thighs/drumsticks): 1 kg (2.2 lb)
• 🧅 Onion, finely chopped: 400 g (3 cups / 14 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic, minced: 6 g (2 cloves / 0.2 oz)
• 🫗 Lard or sunflower oil: 45 ml (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌶️ Sweet paprika: 16 g (2 tbsp / 0.56 oz)
• 🌶️ Hot paprika or chili flakes (to taste): 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🍅 Tomato paste: 20 g (1 tbsp / 0.7 oz)
• 🫑 Red bell pepper, small dice (optional): 120 g (1 cup / 4.2 oz)
• 💧 Chicken stock or water: 750 ml (3 cups / 25 fl oz)
• 🌿 Bay leaf: 1
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈10 g / 1¾ tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🥛 Sour cream (pavlaka), room temp: 200 g (¾ cup / 7 oz)
• Noklice (drop dumplings)
• 🥚 Eggs: 2 large (≈100 g / 3.5 oz)
• 🌾 All-purpose flour: 150 g (1¼ cups / 5.3 oz)
• 💧 Water or milk: 60–80 ml (4–5 tbsp / 2–2.7 fl oz)
• 🧂 Salt: 1 g (¼ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🫗 Oil (a few drops, optional): 5 ml (1 tsp / 0.17 fl oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Onion base: Warm fat in a wide pot. Cook onion with a pinch of salt 10–12 min until soft and sweet; add garlic 30 sec.
2. 2️⃣ Bloom: Take pot off heat; stir in sweet (and hot) paprika 20–30 sec. Return on low; add tomato paste and bell pepper 1–2 min.
3. 3️⃣ Stew: Add chicken, stock, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Simmer gently, covered, 30–35 min until chicken is tender.
4. 4️⃣ Noklice batter: Whisk eggs, salt, and oil. Stir in flour; loosen with water to a thick, spoonable batter. Rest 10 min.
5. 5️⃣ Cook noklice: Remove chicken to a warm plate. Keep stew at a gentle simmer. Using two small spoons, drop 2–3 cm nuggets of batter into the pot; cook 5–6 min until set and fluffy.
6. 6️⃣ Finish creamy: Whisk a ladle of hot sauce into sour cream to temper, then stir back in off heat. Return chicken; simmer 2 min (do not boil). Adjust salt/pepper and discard bay.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 20 min
🔥 Cook: 45 min
⏳ Total: 1 h 05 min

Back to full recipe