Goulash with caraway seeds

Ok, this recipe may be cheating, but it’s so good, I couldn’t help myself. Part of this cooking challenge is to find new ways to use spices, but I have been preparing Hungarian Goulash with caraway seeds since 2000. I just wasn’t interested in searching for a new way to prepare anything with caraway seeds, since they already came in one of my favorite dishes. I printed the original recipe from www.theworld.org but it’s not there anymore. I modified several ingredients anyway, so I’ll give you my version.

You’ll need:

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil (I omitted the additional 2 tablespoons of lard called for in the recipe!)

1-2 pounds pork, cut into cubes

¼ cup paprika

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 or 2 cans sauerkraut (I used one 14.5 ounce can, original recipe called for 3 cups)

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

2 cups chicken stock

¼ cup relish or 1 large dill pickle, chopped

optional: hot peppers of your choice, ¼ cup white wine, 1 cup sour cream

I sliced and diced, drained the sauerkraut, and did not use any hot peppers.

Directions: place butter and oil in a medium to large pot, melt butter, and add onions. Saute until translucent, then add paprika and stir well. Add pork, and brown it. Add peppers, garlic, caraway seeds, and chicken stock. The original recipe gave an option of substituting ¼ cup of chicken stock with ¼ cup white wine, but I like my stews kind of soupy, so I added the extra liquid on top of the entire broth amount- actually, I was supposed to only use 1 cup of liquid but I always use 2 cups of broth. Stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover- let simmer 10-15 minutes. Stir in sauerkraut and pickle (I made up the relish part because I don’t usually keep pickles in the house). Cover again and simmer 20-30 minutes. 

The original recipe calls for a cup of sour cream to be stirred in just before serving, but I don’t do that because I prepare dumplings over the stew! If you’d like to make the dumplings, mix 1 cup Bisquick or equivalent with 1/3 cup milk (I used skim), and drop by spoonfuls onto the goulash. Cook 10 minutes with the lid off, then put the lid on and cook for another 10 minutes. The dumplings will not be brown and crispy on top, but they will be cooked through and tasty!

Do you have a favorite dish made with caraway seeds? Or, do you have a goulash recipe that's different from this one? Please share!