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Babgulyas a Hungarian Bean Goulash

Babgulyas is a Hungarian bean goulash recipe, rich in paprika and featuring beef & bacon this dish is an easy one-pot wonder. This recipe is gloriously old school and is influenced by the dish that is served up every year at our village festival. It features instructions for both stovetop and Instant Pot.
Hungarian goulash is much misunderstood by those not from this corner of the world. Rather than being a single recipe, it is an idea with as many variations as there are cooks.
The name babgulyás literally translates to bean goulash which may indicate that it is a vegetarian goulash. Nothing could be further from the truth! Whilst you may find a vegetarian goulash in a couple of spots in major cities you’ll find no such thing in most of the country. This recipe contains both beef shin and smoked streaky bacon.
Whether it be chicken paprika or beef porkolt, traditional Hungarian food is all about simple honest cooking, this Hungarian bean goulash is no different.
Servings: 4
Author: Krumpli

Ingredients

  • 3.5 ounces streaky bacon cut into ½-inch dice, 100g
  • 1 cup chopped onion cut into ¾-inch dice, 150g
  • ½ cup celeriac or celery, cut into ¾-inch dice, 50g
  • 1 cup carrot cut into ¾-inch dice, 150g
  • 1 cup parsnip cut into ¾-inch dice, 150g
  • 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 1 pound beef shank cut into ¾-inch dice, 300 g
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 2 tablespoons tomato concentrate
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 quart beef stock 1 liter
  • 1 15-ounce can kidney beans 400g
  • 1 15-ounce can cannelini beans 400g
  • salt to taste

Instructions

Stove Top Instructions:

  • Heat an 8-inch saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the bacon and gently cook for 10 minutes or until the bacon is golden and has released some fat.
  • Add the carrot, celery, carrot, parsnip, and garlic to the pan and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Turn the heat down to low.
  • Add the beef, sprinkle over the paprika, caraway seeds and add the tomato puree, then stir to combine.
  • Pour in the beef stock, add the bay leaves and sprigs of thyme.
  • Finally stir in the beans, taste, and add salt as required, then simmer on low for 2 ½-3 hours.

Instant Pot Instructions:

  • Set your InstantPot to saute mode and when warm add in the bacon stirring continually.
  • When it has created a nice layer of bacon fat add in the onion and celery and saute for 5 minutes.
  • Now add in the garlic, caraway seeds and thyme and stir for 1 minute.
  • Add in the beef and stir and saute for another 5 minutes before turning off the saute mode.
  • Sprinkle over the paprika and stir before adding the tomato puree, beef stock and bay leaves, once all combined have a quick test for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required.
  • Place on the lid and cook on manual high pressure for 8 minutes.
  • Do a quick-release, remove the lid, and add in the diced parsnip, carrot and beans.
  • Check the seasoning again adding salt as required.
  • Replace the lid and cook on manual under high pressure for another 5 minutes.
  • Allow a 10 minute natural pressure release then quick-release any remeaining pressure.
  • Serve steaming hot.

Notes

I have made a couple of amendments to this babgulyas recipe to make it more accessible to international readers.
Hungarians would rarely use celery or parsnip in this dish, instead opting for celeriac and parsley root. If you can get your hands on them then feel free to use them in the same quantities as the other root vegetables.
Hungarians do not use smoked paprika. This dish should be made with Hungarian sweet paprika rather than spicy. You can add in a bit of spicy though, but be sure to have a taste, the heat varies massively. Sweet paprika is called édes and spicy paprika is called csípős in Hungarian. The good stuff for export likely comes from a town called Szeged, so also look for Szegedi on the packet.