Romanian chicken paprikash with dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast (600 g)
• 3 boneless chicken thighs (450 g)
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 3 medium yellow onions (450 g)
• 60 ml water
• 250 ml water
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon hot paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper paste
• 4 roasted peppers
• peeled and deseeded
• 2 cans diced tomatoes (800 g)
• 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1500 ml water
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon mineral water
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 150 g flour
• 200 ml cooking cream
• 1 bunch spring onions (100 g)
• 15 g fresh parsley
• 15 g fresh dill

Preparation

1. Pat the breast and thighs dry with paper towels, remove any bones and cut the meat into roughly 2 cm cubes. 2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in an oven-safe pot and cook the meat for 8 minutes, until it turns white and picks up a little color. Transfer it to a bowl. 3. Add the other 2 tablespoons of oil and the finely chopped onion to the same pot. Cook for 5 minutes, then pour in 60 ml of water and cook for another 5 minutes, until softened. 4. Pour in another 250 ml of water. Add the sweet and hot paprika, bay leaves, hot pepper paste, roasted peppers cut into strips, tomatoes drained of their canning liquid, tomato paste, 1½ teaspoons of salt, the pepper and the meat. 5. Cover the pot and put it in an oven preheated to 180°C for 45 minutes, until the meat is tender. 6. Bring 1500 ml of water to a boil, about 10 minutes. Beat the eggs with ½ teaspoon of salt and the mineral water. Mix in 1 tablespoon and 150 g of flour until you have a thick batter that falls slowly from the spoon. 7. Let the water simmer gently and drop in the batter by spoonfuls, as you would for semolina dumplings. Boil them for 15 minutes from the moment they rise to the surface, without letting the water boil vigorously, then drain them. 8. Mix the cold cooking cream with a few spoonfuls of hot sauce. Pour it into the pot with the paprikash and add the dumplings. Stir, adjust the salt and pepper to taste, then put the pot back in the oven for 5 minutes. 9. Finely chop the spring onions, parsley and dill. Sprinkle them over the dish after taking the pot out of the oven.