Hortobágyi palacsinta: savoury pancakes filled with paprika chicken (chicken paprikash) – a common and delicious Hungarian savoury dish. I first ate this when I visited Budapest in the summer of 2018. You can also get other variations of the paprika chicken (paprikás csirke); it is commonly served on its own, with some bread or chips, or with ‘noodles’ which are a sort of dumpling-gnocchi hybrid, or sometimes even with pasta. Below you can see a photo of a meal at a typical bistro in Budapest, and on the bottom left you will see chicken paprikash with their classic ‘noodles’.
The chicken paprikash itself is a paprika-based stew, sometimes with added tomatoes but mainly just a butt-load of paprika. It’s warming, smoky, mild and so comforting. It also has sour cream added right at the end (Hungarians LOVE their sour cream!) so it’s also creamy. If you make it with smoked/plain paprika (as opposed to spicy), it’s also perfectly kid-friendly and spicy-friendly.
For the chicken filling in this dish, I used a chicken paprikash recipe from No Recipes, and also watched their video which takes you along every step – super helpful! Here’s a link to the original recipe link x, and here is the YouTube link: original recipe YouTube video link here x. I’ll list the original recipe below for ease of access, with my adjustments for the pancakes noted to the side. Thanks Marc for this easy-to-follow, simple and delicious recipe.
Chicken Paprikash filling recipe
Original recipe serves 6 (I used slightly less meat and it made 9 pancakes of approx. 22cm diameter)
Ingredients:
- 1kg chicken, drumsticks and thighs (I used around 750g boneless breast and thighs for my pancakes as that’s what we had in the house)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black ground pepper (I was way more generous with my S&P seasoning)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (I used a mixture of olive & veg oil to fry off the chicken)
- 1 large onion, chopped (I diced finely)
- 1 large pepper, seeds removed & chopped (I used 1 green and 1/2 yellow capsicum peppers, diced to same size as onion)
- 3 cloves garlic (this is not in the original recipe)
- 30 grams paprika (I used sweet smoked paprika)
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock (that’s 237ml, I used around 400ml i.e. a medium-large mug to make it a bit more liquid/saucy)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (that’s 118ml. I used a bit more, about half a 300ml pot, plus extra for garnish and on the side for people to add their own)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I used plain flour)
Methods:
- Heat oil(s) in a pot with a large pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (skin-down if using skin), s&p and cook until golden brown on both sides. Doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through. Remove chicken from the pan. Place chicken on a plate/in a bowl to one side.
- Add onion and pepper, sweat down until onions start to become translucent.
- Add garlic and paprika. Cook for 30 seconds, taking care not to burn.
- Add chicken back to the pot.
- Add chicken stock (and any extra water). Add the lid and simmer gently for 45 – 60 mins, or until chicken is tender.
- Mix the sour cream and flour together. When the chicken is done, take some of the hot cooking liquid and put it in the sour cream-flour mixture to temper the sour cream. Keep doing this slowly by slowly, until you’ve added about a cup/mug of cooking liquid to the sour cream-flour. Pour the sour cream into the pot and stir until combined. Stir until slightly thickened (but don’t let boil).
- Remove from heat and season to taste.
For the pancake, I used my own recipe which changes every single time. However, if you have a favourite crepe recipe that you’ve tried and tested, feel free to use that for this dish. Or, if like me you make up the recipe every time, go for it! My chicken filling filled 8 pancakes (approx 22cm diameter pancakes, a bit smaller than traditional crepe size). I’ll write you some very rough instructions here in case you don’t have any place to start:
Approximate Crepe Pancake Recipe
Makes approx. 10 pancakes
This recipe is veggie and contains gluten. To make dairy-free: use a milk substitute or water. To make vegan: use a milk substitute or water, and leave out the egg.
Ingredients:
- 300g plain flour
- 1 egg (optional)
- 500-750ml milk (or any milk substitute of your choice; plain water can also be used, just be extra gentle with your pancake flipping as pancakes made with just water can be a bit more fragile)
Methods:
- Make a well in the flour and crack the egg into it. With a fork or a whisk, slowly whisk the egg until almost fully combined. If you are not using an egg, make a well in the flour and continue to 2.
- Slowly add your milk (or milk subsitute) to the well and stir continually. Slow is key to a smooth batter; if you add the liquid too quickly it will be come lumpy. I recommend 1/2 to 1 cup increments, adding when the previous liquid has almost fully been stirred in.
- Continue to stir and add liquid until your batter is smooth and resembles the consistency of pouring cream. I make my batter quite runny to get a thin pancake result.
- Rest your batter for up to a day (optional) in the fridge.
- Heat a frying pan or pancake pan on a medium-high heat and wait until it comes to temperature. Pour some of your batter into the middle of the hot pan and tilt the pan immediately to spread the batter all over the pan, making sure it reaches all the edges. Place the pan back on the heat and cook for 1-2 mins either side.
If you’re still here and wondering how to add these two recipes together, hello, thanks for reading. I’ve got you covered. When you’re ready with your cooked chicken filling and stack of crepes, grab an oven-safe serving dish and get ready to roll.
How to make the chicken and pancakes into chicken pancakes
Ingredients:
- Chicken paprikash, with extra sauce
- Stack of crepes
- Grated cheese (this is not in the original chicken recipe, but lots of my family were keen to add cheese to theirs!)
- Chopped parsley to garnish (I actually used coriander for my photo, as there are some parsley-haters in my household, but I think parsley would work better with the dish)
- Sour cream
Methods:
- Preheat oven to fan 180C. (356F).
- Take out the chicken from its pot/dish and chop the chicken into small bite-sized pieces, or pull it if you’d prefer. Return to the pot and stir into the sauce.
- Place 2-3 heaped tablespoons of chicken filling (draining some of the sauce) in the bottom half of your crepe, leaving 2-3 inches around the edge. If you have bigger crepes than me, use more filling.
- Fold the left and right edges inwards to create two straight outside edges.
- Fold up the bottom to create another straight edge along the bottom.
- Roll the pancake upwards towards the round edge. Flip the pancake over and lie it seam-down in a oven-proof serving dish.
- Continue rolling pancakes wish steps 2-5 until you have used up all the chicken bits.
- Arrange the pancakes in your oven dish, and spoon the rest of the sauce around the edges/on top of the pancakes. If you want to add cheese, this is the point to sprinkle some over the top. (You can also do as my sister did and stuff a bit inside the pancakes too). If your pancakes are room-temperature, like mine were, cook in the oven for 20 mins. If they are already warm, cook for 10 mins.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with extra sour cream and some parsley.
- Serve! with sour cream, cheese, parsley, and any other sides you desire.
I hope you guys enjoyed this recipe. It’s a bit more involved than usual, but it was a great treat to try out for pancake day, and something a little different than your usual lemon-and-sugar.
Thanks again to Marc from No Recipe for the chicken paprikash filling recipe!
Happy cooking 🙂
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