Recently was buying some items from a deli. The man behind the counter handed the items said to me and then said “Oh you know I thought you’d speak with an accent!”. He was always quite friendly and I don’t think that he was being mean but I did kind of raise an eyebrow. He was smiling so sweetly and from previous encounters I had deduced that he was probably a bit special needs so I didn’t say what I wanted to say, that is “Well you don’t get out much do you?”
I often gets asked for Chinese restaurant recommendations (which I don’t mind at all, I consider it part of my job and it’s nice when people ask you for recommendations) and I even get asked for directions to Chinatown (by Chinese tourists who get frustrated that I can’t speak Chinese). Couriers coming to my door often do a double take when they see my last name “You’re Lorraine Elliott?” which I find amusing. None of those things really bother me because of course I know people make assumptions (although the people that speak very loudly and slowly to me really, really annoy me). People make assumptions all the time about the car that some drive, hair colour, where they live and where they shop at. I make assumptions too.
Like when my friend Christie was coming over for blinis and tea with her darling baby daughter Poppy. As soon as she walked in I grabbed her arm. “Can you please taste this paprika chicken?”. You see I had done a bit of assuming myself as Christie is half Hungarian and I wanted her opinion on the dish as she would know what Hungarian paprika chicken should taste like. I knew that it tasted good but I wanted to know whether it tasted like the authentic Hungarian paprika chicken. She took a forkful and confirmed my suspicions that it was good but the Hungarian paprika chicken is usually in a thinner, soupier sauce.
She’s even cute when she cries! Poppy holding my birthday present
I’m so smitten by this easy, Winter friendly recipe I’ve made it a few times and it never fails to comfort when the weather outside is particularly beastly as it has been this past week. I’m already over Winter and it’s technically only the first week! The reason why I make this dish so often is for starters all you really need is sour cream and chicken and the rest is probably in your pantry cupboard. You can make this in the pressure cooker or on the stovetop in a casserole dish. The pressure cooker is faster of course but given that you could keep this on the stove without stirring it much it is very low maintenance.
The pressure cooker version of the chicken was cooked for longer than it needed to be (probably for almost double the time). Still the chicken was tasty and whilst it had much less sauce than I wanted it to and wouldn’t qualify as a traditional Hungarian paprika chicken, it was eagerly devoured for dinner that evening. I’ve made it since with the proper amount of time as specified below and it is more liquid but nonetheless creamy and delicious. The paprika and sour cream give is a slightly spicy creaminess and the chicken thighs are soft and tender making them the perfect foil for rice or noodles.
The recipe is actually from the cookbook that came with the cooker. Actually creamy is a misnomer. In fact there is only half a cup of light sour cream involved in this recipe which can feed 4 people. In fact Christie tells me that traditionally it is served with a cucumber sour cream salad so that the sour cream isn’t added into the chicken itself but is added when you mix the cucumber sour cream salad into the chicken. Don’t you just love versatile recipes like this?
So tell me Dear Reader, what assumptions have or do people make about you? Are they correct? And do you enjoy defying stereotypes as much as I do?
Creamy Paprika Chicken
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 red capsicum diced
- 1.5 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
- 4-6 chicken thigh fillets with skin removed (about 1 kg/2 pounds)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup (125ml) light sour cream
- salt and pepper to season
If using a pressure cooker:
1a. Press function on the pressure cooker and set to saute for 15 minutes. Press start and after 3 minutes once the pan is hot, add the oil and saute onions, garlic, tomato and capsicum until soft. As I blended mine up quite finely it didn’t take long but if you dice them it may take about 5-6 minutes. Add paprika and cook for 1 minute (be careful not to burn the paprika as it turns bitter). Add chicken pieces and coat in the tomato and paprika mixture and cook for 4 minutes. Add chicken stock and bay leaf and stir. Secure the lid on the pressure cooker.
2a. Press the function button and select pressure cook. Enter 25 minutes and press start. Ensure pressure release valve is turned to the pressure position and control dial is set on medium pressure. When the time is up release the pressure and open lid carefully. Season with salt and pepper and stir in sour cream just before serving. Yours will be more saucy than mine as mine was cooked for longer.
Using a regular casserole dish with lid
1b. Heat a flameproof casserole dish heat and add oil and saute onions, garlic, tomato and capsicum until soft. As I blended mine up quite finely it didn’t take long but if you dice them it may take about 5-6 minutes. Add paprika and cook for 1 minute (be careful not to burn the paprika as it turns bitter). Add chicken pieces and coat in the tomato and paprika mixture and cook for 4 minutes. Add chicken stock and bay leaf and stir. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid and cook covered for one hour and 15 minutes until cooked and tender. Season with salt and pepper and stir in sour cream just before serving. Yours will be more saucy than mine as mine was cooked for longer.
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90 Comments | Add your own
So comforting and scrumptious looking! Paprika is one of my favorite spices.
Cheers,
Rosa
I don’t like it one bit when people jump to conclusions. It’s annoying.
Your dish looks scrumptious. Even though it’s spring in Holland I wouldn’t say no to a bowlful!
Magda
I do enjoy defying stereotypes. Except, of course, the Irish are known for drinking, and well, drinking is fun and I am of Irish descent.;) Your paprika chicken looks great! So interesting that the sour cream salad is stirred into the sauce on the plate.
I suppose most people make assumptions but not everyone shares it:) Poor deli guy, he needs to go out more:)
Ohhh, that recipe looks delicious!
I am already done with winter too! I have had pneumonia, the kids have had croup and a constant runny nose, I think we are all over it in our house!
I have also been repeating all my slow cooker recipes to the point of boredom so thank you so much for sharing a new winter warmer!
Assumptions people make about me;
I am tiny so at a restaurant he waiter usually put the huge steak dinner cooked very rare down. Next to my 6 ft husband. When I say it’s for me they look at me then at my stomach. I am sure they watch to see if I eat it all.
I also love it when my husband speaks to someone who is a dirt bike rider, they talk for ages ignoring me, when there is a chance I will add something to the story. They can’t believe that I would get on a bike. I take pleasure in letting them know it is the same size as theirs, and I have been riding since I was 8. I think I look to refined to be a bike rider in their eyes
This looks and sounds so good! I am also totally over winter, and there’s a long way to go. I think we all make assumptions, often incorrect, all the time.
Hi Liz-Oh yay I’m so glad that you made it and liked it! Thanks for letting me know! And yes best to exercise caution with that pressure cooker!
what a perfect winter warmer!!!
Paprika chicken reminds me of my grandmother who I miss so much…But she would never use light sour cream!!!! sacrilege
All assumptions about me are probably correct…..and i am a little guilty of stereotyping people.
I really love the look of this chicken, sounds so warming.
As a person of mixed descent I am used to an often amused by stereotypical assumptions about me. I am wondering though what your deli guy would say to a person of African descent with a Chinese last name which by the way is not an uncommon situation in my country.
One of my fave dishes! Mmm. This is the most authentic recipe I’ve found:
http://visualrecipes.com/recipe-details/recipe_id/270/Chicken-Paprikash-%28Paprikas-Csirke%29-with-Spaetzle/
Do you think it will still work if yogurt is used?
Lovely Winter chicken dish Lorraine, very hearty.
Can’t think of anything at the moment but I recall when my first daughter Stephanie was a baby ( my husband is Indian and I was born in Italy) a lady remarked that she didn’t look like a ‘Stephanie’. This comment threw me for a nano second to which I replied, “Really, what should a Stephanie look like?” She was stumped! Touche and away!! haha
Ahahaha Poppy is just delicious. You are right, she is cute even when she is crying. Your paprika chicken looks delicious. I love pressure cookers they make it so much easier. I will have to try this recipe out. Its perfect for the freezing cold weather.
Lorraine, did you use the smoked paprika or normal one ? I was going to do a “wet” chicken dinner tonight…. certainly is the weather for it
Wow – these sterotypes are still around? Indeed, some people mustn’t get out.
Hi Linda-I used Hungarian sweet paprika
And yes it’s certainly the weather for it! 
That looks tasty and perfect for a winter dinner. It’s getting very chilly up here too.
Would you serve this with rice or a warm crusty bread?
Found so many people with Asian features in every country and all speaking language other than tongue of forebears.
I don’t know what looks ore delicious-Poppy or that chicken!
Today you are totally in MY world!
! Having been married to a Hungarian foodie, food & book writer who insisted on doing almost all the cooking, there is little I don’t know about ALL the different forms of paprika and their uses (Had about four-five different kinds of cartons in the pantry, all about 50cms high!). Love paprika chicken – looking at the photos, yours has a lovely colour, perhaps does need a little more sauce, but, personally I don’t like it too soupy. Gabor would accompany it with home-made spatzle (using the colander to make the tasty bits) and accompany it with a fine, degourged cucumber salad in sour cream with dill. To die for 
!
And, please keep the baby pics coming – Poppy is at a gorgeous age!
!
Enjoyed the chicken paprika recipe. I recommend George Lang’s “Cuisine of Hungary.”
Stereotypes: I am Anglo-German-Aussie and my partner is Thai. Recently in Thailand other Thais were asking my partner for directions: partner had to check with me because I had lived a long time in this city – whereas he did not know it at all.
Oops, got so excited by the paprika chicken, forgot the ‘Q of the day’
! Yes, people have made heaps of assumptions, mostly totally incorrect, about me t’out my life – so many seem to be SO sure they know what I’m thinking better than I do! I learned to smile and forget a long time ago. At the moment, p’raps, the biggest assumption I have noticed is based on my chronological age v what I, as an individual am interested in, do, study, work at etc now, and fully intend to in the foreseeable future! 
!
This sounds like a delicious slow cooker meal too – and so easy!
People often assume I am stuck-up, but I am just extremely shy when meeting new people. My real friends/family know I’m not at all up myself, I just take a while to open up to people! When I lived in England, people assumed I was English because I didn’t have a broad ‘Home And Away/Neighbours-like accent’. I hated being told I didn’t sound Australian because I do!! I just don’t say: ‘stone the flaming crows’ and stuff like that very often …)
Looks great Lorraine! I think I might make it tonight… it’s freezing! It has to be served with homemade nokedli noodles though
Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments about my beautiful Poppy xx
Travelling with my father people stop him and speak Hebrew to him. He’s a very relapsed Jew so not fluent in Hebrew.
I think this dish would be wonderful. I have a bit of a phobia of chicken on bones but I think I could make ssomething along the same lines taste wise with chicken breasts.
“Poppy holding my birthday present” – when was this auspicious occasion? The addition of sour cream is worth trying. My age old recipe – also pressure cooked, has cream and is reminiscent of butter chicken consistency so this is going to be interesting.
When speaking to a person with an ethnic accent, I am guilty of slowing down my speech assuming they won’t understand English very well. Especially when speaking to my very Italian father-in-law the kids laugh at me because I put on a fake Italian accent. So unfortunately I do stereotype people quite accidently.
Lorraine, you make the assumption that all pressure cookers have knobs and buttons and dials to cook this. Mine has a lid and a weight and you put it on the stove.
sounds like a love recipe though and it will be made very soon int this household..
Love the gorgeous color. I’ve been having fun with my pressure cooker, so it’s nice to have another recipe to try. xoxo Mum
Im not sure if its a stereotype but a lot of people are oddly surprised when they find out that I love to cook. In the beginning I kept wondering why. Do foodies have a certain look about them? But now I find it funny and my blog is a great “in your face” moment when I mention it lol.
The chicken looks amazing! I could prob do it in the slow cooker, no?
Hi Nic-yep it’s totally doable in a slow cooker! And yes I get the same look when I tell people that I bake!
Great winter recipe! I could make this tonight ….
That looks perfect for cold weather, and it’s lovely to see Christie’s baby! When I travel in Asia I stick out like a sore thumb, but in Germany no-one knew I was foreign until I spoke. It’s an advantage and a disadvantage. People don’t do the slowly and loudly when they think you belong – even if you secretly need it!
I’m definitely going to try this, do you think I could just use a normal saucepan, I don’t have a casserole dish :0
A recent experience. Person at work “You must be born and raised in Australia, your English is really good”. I get comments like this all the time, always be well-meaning people, it’s upsetting in a way as I don’t feel “different”. It’s a sad reminder that I may be judged by the way I look though.
Yum!! thanks, have been looking for something new to try and that looks absolutely delicious!! My dad is of Italian decent so we have a very italian sounding surname. When my mum was in hospital once, a nurse came up to her and asked her in a slow voice – “you speak english??” which is quite funny as my mum is very fair and looks nothing like an italian!! The other funny things is that a couple of times we’ve had funny looks from people because one of my little girls has red hair and my husband has brown hair and my hair is quite dark! One lady actually asked me if she was my husband’s!!
@ Rachel – I DO hope you said: ‘Oh, no, found her under a cabbage leaf’!
!
This looks fantastic, perfect for a cold winter’s night. It is so cold here, nearby roads have been cut by snow. We are having this for dinner tonight.
I was in Aesop just yesterday wearing a 1930s bakelite necklace. The young shop assistant asked me about it and I told her it was 1930s and she asked me if I had kept it from when it was new. If I had bought it at 20 that would make me over 90. I wish I had thought to say “If you think I look 90 the Aesop is not working so I’m not buying anymore” So yes people make assumptions. Young people can be very patronising and think that anyone over 40 is ancient. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and guessed that she is rotten at maths.
Nothing more fun then shattering pre-conceived ideas, mine and other peoples.
Chicken looks delicious!
Being half Hungarian myself I don’t ever remember my mother making these. She was addicted to making cabbage rolls which I loathe (and thus assume all cabbage related dishes are as horrible – lol).
Some Aussies do need to get out of their little world. I was brought up in HK, but had lived in a number of countries, picking up British and American accents along my way. I love to play around with my accents and choice of word when speaking with different people; you can imagine, I always keep others guessing
I think the idea of an ‘authentic’ recipe in itself a little bit funny – this recipe is almost nothing like my grandmother’s chicken paprika, and I can tell you she was very Hungarian indeed!! Regional and familial differences will always occur. Interestingly, grandma’s recipe uses no garlic, no tomatoes, no capsicum, no chicken stock, no bay leaf and no sour cream… but it’s absolutely my favourite dinner ever! Hers is essentially just paprika, onions, cream and chicken, served on nokedli. So… very different
That looks so appealing. I love paprika.
People can be so narrow minded but at the same time we all do it!
It’s funny, being completely white anglo Australian I have never thought that I stood out in anyway.
But my parents and partner are Scottish born and raised and have slight accents and all my students seem to feel I have an English accent.
I’m constantly correcting them, ‘No, I just speak English properly.’
But I suppose it’s never been offensive, only just amusing.
I get mocked by the Scots and the Irish for my Australianism and apparently I cannot say beer, weird or chill properly.
But I must say, I’m longing for a little hungarian to make me some wonderful Paprika Chicken.
Looks divine.
I’m salivating at the thought of this chicken! In serious need of comfort food like this esp since I’m cramming for my exam tmr (yikes, shouldn’t be blog hopping/ procrastinating) lol
Thanks for sharing xx
Poppy is sooo cute. This is the second post this week with a baby in it….????? Is that me making an assumption about you being clucky?
People assume I’m not old enough to have a daughter the age of MiddleC, but that assumption doesn’t bother me at all!
Such perfect comfort food. And that baby; oh; bestill my beating ovaries.
Looking good!! And it seems pretty easy to make too
Considering Canberra already had a night of -7 in Autumn, I can whole-heartedly say I’m over winter too! Oh gosh, I’m amazed you get those reactions! People really speak slower?!?! Heavens, maybe I need to add food bloggers to the list of people my work advocates for
I just made it and it was divine. Thanks for the recipe Lorraine. I did it stove top as the only pressure cooker I ahve is the beast my mother gave me from the 40s. Apparently my grandmother once blew up dumplings in it!
You are right, no matter how much it bothers us when people make assumptions, we still do it ourselves more often than we would like to admit. It is summer here, but it has been raining so much this past week I may just have to make this comforting dish.
Well, I’m in Cyprus for vacation and the sun is blistering hot, but I’m still drooling.
I’m a quite feminine female, and males in my very competitive field of work never take me seriously at first. I love their faces when they realize I have a brain, one that might even work faster than theirs.
Ah, the little joys of life.
Yum this looks good, and low fat to boot
I’ll have to try it in the slow cooker.
I’ve mainly come across stereotypes due to being female in a male dominated job. It can be annoying but like you said, sometimes fun to prove them wrong.
Haha the name thing is funny… people always ask if when Panu and I get married would I change my name? I’d be Catherine Nevalainen!!! now THAT does not sound chinese lol… I think it’s what we do tho eg asking a Hungarian friend about paprika chicken.. and if they get offended they are taking life too seriously
With all the rain and wind we’re currently having in these parts, this would certainly be the perfect stormy-night supper. So savory!
Firstly, how cute is Poppy! Secondly, I think I need to buy a pressure cooker. Finally, Danish tourists mistook me as being a fellow countryman when I was travelling in Greece. I quite liked that assumption.
Lovely looking dish there, Lorraine. I haven’t ever made any Hungarian food, but this looks like my kind of dish – quick, but tasty. I might give it a go in the slow cooker, too.
I will make this on the weekend, yum! I love the bowl you have the chicken in, where is it from?
I’d be willing to eat that in 100 degrees!
that looks so easy, healthy and delicious with some rice… mmhh
aww baby is so cute!!!
I actually really love how thick and rich this sauce is compared with a traditional, thinner sauce. And that deep color is gorgeous! I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait until next fall to enjoy this one!
Hi Nola-Thanks! The bowl is from Peters of Kensington
Poppy is adorable!
And the dish looks fabulous…you’re getting cold, we’re getting HOT!
I think we make assumptions about things all the time. It just makes things easier at times. When I go to a Japanese restaurant, the waitresses will tend to speak to me in Japanese, and when I go to a Chinese restaurant, they’d speak to me in Cantonese (which I have problem understanding). I totally understand where you’re coming from:)
Anyway, the paprika chicken looks amazing:) Might try it with a dairy free sour cream, since I can’t take dairy.
I try not to make assumptions about anything ever since I started travelling and came across an Indian Sikh man in Hong Kong speaking perfect Cantonese into his mobile phone, gotta love Honkers!
Hi, first time on your blog, and I love it! This recipe is similar to a dish I often make – paprika goes so well chicken, doesn’t it?
Speaking about assumptions, I am also an Aussie with a Chinese heritage, and I previously lived in Japan for 4 years. The Japanese people always assumed I was Japanese and would speak to me in Japanese. Even when I was with Caucasian friends who was better at the Japanese language than me! That gave me great incentive to learn the language, fast. Now I’m living in Hong Kong, and the situation hasn’t improved because my Chinese is in bad shape. Guess I better brush up on Chinese!
Poppy is sooo gorgeous!! I love it when babies make cute face.
The recipe seemed perfect to make today, the weather’s been terrible, even when it doesn’t rain, it’s freezing cold.
That looks delicious! Will try this in my new slowcooker and see how it goes.
Oooh! That’s a tasty looking chicken dish. I toss paprika into loads of recipes anyway…not with lovely sour cream before tho. Thanks for sharing!
People assume that I have an IQ to go with my blond hair. I love proving them wrong.
I learned how to make paprika chicken from Hungarian friends in Australia. 
SO good. 
~~This looks FABULOUS. Everytime I read your blog, Lorraine,I get soooooooooo hungry. My tummy in growling right now. Can you hear it?
Love love love your oh-sp-interedting stories & characters interwoven with your food.
God, I’m envious of you xx HA HA.
I do come across these assumptions but not so much. I suppose when I take Ben’s last name they’ll be making assumptions about me too?!
Heidi xo
p.s. paprika chicken – YUM! Definition of comfort food.
This looks sooo comforting and warming! Paul loves paprika so I’ll need to make this one cold night
Not quite an assumption but people are always surprised that I’m a geek or that I pole dance
Such a cute baby! And you are right, people assume and always will.
I recently made a similar dish (when it was colder) but I still don’t know how authentic it was. I love the sour cream part though. I always get asked where I’m from. People don’t believe it when I say America. Usually these people are foreigners themselves so they have stereotyped what American is supposed to look like. And I married a plain name too (roberts).
Very comforting! I actually prefer thicker gravy rather than thin sauce.
I cooked this recipe last night and it really is delicious and was a hit with the family too. Thanks for sharing it!
Thankyou so very much for this recipe! I just cooked it and my whole family LOVED it. My six year old fussy eater asked for a second bowl.
This looks delicious! And yes indeed very easy to make….another must try methinks!
And yes, just like you couriers do a double take when they see me because my name is Brenda Heffernan and I’m Chinese haha!
Hi everyone! Thanks for the kind words and the funny anecdotes! I’m glad I’m not alone!
Hi Merryl and Alice! I’m so glad that you liked it and that it was popular with your families as it was with our little household!
second serves with fussy eaters are always a good thing! 
Beautiful! I will definitely mark and save this for when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
You cracked me up with the assumptions people make, its so true though isn’t it, people just think what they think because, well… they just don’t think!!!
I’m so over winter already too., had a ball with the first few weeks, slow cooking & nice n saucy stuff to devour…., but now I’m longing for fresh crisp salads. The paprika chicken on the other hand though – it sure looks good.
Yep, I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I’ll take a savory over anything sugary any day!!! But sentiment and stance evaporates immediately when I set foot in Sicily where always the first week there I put my diabetes to the test by continuously treating myself to the myriad of multi-colored wonderfully window-displayed pastries, it seems that I must buy them all. Once off the island then I give no thought to sweets. My favorite meal is from a Tuscan friend which is potatoes and pork chops cooked in red wine vinegar along with sunny-side-up fried eggs finished off with again red wine vinegar… True savories!!!
G.B. Berkeley, California
i love how cute that babe is, even whilst her face is scrunched up with unhappiness! i’m also loving this dish–it’s a great source of comfort and flavor.
It’s still cold here in London and this would hit the spot right now!
The number one question I got ask the most is ‘do you speak Chinese?’. Well, I don’t. I learned how to say I don’t speak Chinese in Chinese but this made it even more confusing
The paprika chicken looks absolutely delicious. Oh Yum! Such beautiful colour.
I love Paprika chicken, I make one all the time from the pressure cooker book by Suzanne gibbs. Such a great cook book.
Oh the number of times I’ve been stopped by some random Chinese tourist asking for directions… shame I don’t know names of places in Mandarin (even though I can do semi-passable conversational Mandarin). I mean, what is Trafalgar Square in Mandarin? I have no idea. I always feel a bit sorry for them, also I suspect they judge me for only ‘half speaking’ Chinese!
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