Recipe by: The Eastern European Cookbook-ISBN 0-486-23562-9

Wipe meat dry and brown in lard on all sides in a kettle. Push meat
aside; add onions and more lard, if needed. Saute until tender. Stir
in paprika and cook 1 min. Add enough water to cover; cook very
slowly, tightly covered, for 1 hour. Add tomatoes and potatoes;
continue to cook another 30 mins, or until beef and potatoes are
tender. It may be necessary to add a little more water during
cooking, but final gravy should be thick. Serves 4 to 6.

NOTES : Hungary's national dish, gulyas, eaten in one form or another
around the world, means shepherd's or herdsmen's stew. It is
thought that gulyas was invented by shepherds, who cooked it
on an
outdoor fire. Traditionally, it is prepared in a large kettle
called bogracs. There are so many versions of goulash served in
other countries that it is difficult to identify the truly
Hungarian dish. However, the stew is a thick one made with
cubes
of beef, preferably a little fatty, onions and paprika.
Sometimes
the stew is also flavored with garlic or caraway seeds, and
some
versions include tomatoes or tomato puree and green peppers.
Diced
potatoes or small noodles may be cooked with or added to the
goulash. The stew is properly thickened, not with flour, but by
long, slow cooking. Hungarians point out that in order to make
a
really good goulash, one must use their highly prized sweet
paprika.