Paprika Chicken

You know I thought that the recipes that we find in magazines are supposed to be triple tested???

Sometimes I have just got to wonder.  The recipe I made last night couldn't have been, I'm sure.  I found this recipe in the Very Useful Winter Book that was a supplement recently with Good Taste.  Admittedly the recipe was part of an "Eastern European Feast" - but really, one chicken drumstick per person!!! Also the amount of sauce that I had when I had doubled the number of pieces of chicken was still way too much!!!  Anyway, that's what I am here for - to tell you how I made it - and what you should do next time!!!

So here is the recipe as it was printed in the magazine.

Paprika Chicken


Serves 8 (as part of a feast!!)


1/4 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon paprika
8 large chicken drumsticks, skin removed (see tip on recipe for Oven "Fried" Chicken)
25g butter
2 tbs olive oil
2 brown onions, finely diced
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp caster sugar
2 x 400g cans diced italian tomatoes
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 cup (235g) sour cream


Combine flour and paprika in a large bowl **. Season with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken and gently toss to coat evenly in the flour mixture.


Melt butter in a large flameproof casserole dish over medium heat until foaming.  Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, for 5-10 minutes or until brown all over.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken to a heatproof bowl.


Heat oil in the casserole dish over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens.  Add sugar and cook, stirring for 1 minute or until well combined.  Add chicken, tomato, water and bay leaf, and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked through.  Add sour cream and stir to combine.  Cook covered for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.  

Now here is what I did:

** Put the flour and paprika and seasonings in a large plastic bag - it makes it so much easier - and no mess to clean up - throw the bag away!!

I did not use the butter - why add the saturated fat I say - I used small amounts of olive oil.

I cooked the chicken in the oven, covered for 1 hour (at 180 degrees).

I used 15 drumsticks - I work on the principle that each person will eat 2-3 each!  Based on this I did not increase the amount of tomatoes, or liquid - yet I still found that there was too much liquid for the amount of chicken.  I think next time I would not add the water, or perhaps check during cooking and add if needed.   I also used light sour cream.

I served the chicken with boiled risoni pasta and steamed broccoli and green beans.

There is a litmus test that I use in this house as to the success of a dish - it's how much tomato sauce is added by "The Darlings".  Last night quite a bit was added.  The dish was good - but not great.  Perhaps a little more seasoning, a little less sauce and it would be perfect!!!

You try it and be the judge - I could be completely off base here - perhaps if I hadn't "tweaked" it and had used the butter and cooked it on the stove top that would have made the difference??

So Dear Readers let me know how you fare with this dish.