Recipes

Pretoria Goulash

When wanting to do something, other than a curry, with beef cubes, Francois suggested that I try a Hungarian Goulash. He sent me recipe which looked quite interesting, and I found a really easy one on All Recipes. So I decided to build my own recipe using these two as a guide.

I have called this Pretoria Goulash, not because it is generally made in Pretoria, but rather because I live in Pretoria 😉

I have also included a variation of this recipe for a potjie below.

Ingredients

• 300g beef cubes
• 1 chopped onion
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 1 chopped tomato
• ½ tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 2 strips chopped red pepper (this should be green pepper, but Pat can't eat green pepper)
• 2 potatoes peeled and quartered
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise

Method

Fry the onions until they start becoming translucent, then add the red (or green) pepper

Add the paprika, star anise, coriander and ginger and fry for a couple of minutes

Move to one side of the pot and add the beef

Fry the beef, stirring regularly, until browned all over (make sure the onions and spices don't burn)

Once the beef has browned, mix the onions and spices with the beef (you can add a bit of stock while mixing)

Add the tomatoes, tinned tomatoes and tomato paste - mix thoroughly

Add the stock and bay leaf, then simmer for about an hour (the tomatoes should have broken down into the sauce)

Add the potatoes and simmer until they are soft (add water if necessary)

You can add some veg, such as baby marrows, once the potatoes are almost done

Serve on a bed of rice (if desired), with veggies on the side

(25 August 2025)

Potjie variation

The Pretoria Goulash recipe also lends itself to using tougher cuts of beef or venison where longer cooking times are necessary. A potjie is ideal for this type of cooking, but one needs to take into account that some of the characteristic goulash flavours may be lost during the extended cooking time.

In a recent experiment, I used about 700g of eland and about 300g of beef, with the other ingredients as above, except where mentioned below. As a rule of thumb, I normally use between 200 g and 250 g of meat per person.

Method

Brown the cubed meat in batches of about a handful at a time in a dash of oil. Set each batch aside when browned. Add more oil if neceessary.

Once all the meat has been browned, fry the onions until translucent in a tablespoon of oil.

Add the spices and star anise and fry for two or three minutes.

Remove from the potjie and set aside.

Return the meat to the onions in the potjie and mix well.

Add ½ tin of chopped tomatoes and three or four chopped strips of red (or green) pepper. Mix well.

Add stock until the meat is covered.

Add two or three bay leaves, making sure they are submerged in the stock.

Simmer on a very low heat for three to four hours, stirring occasionally to ensure that the meat does not stick to the base of the potjie. Add more stock if necessary.

Add the potatoes and the other half tin of chopped tomatoes (you can also add fresh tomatoes).

[Optional: at this stage add an extra ½ teaspoon of paprika and two or three chopped strips of red (or green) pepper.]

Once the potatoes start getting soft, add any other veg that you like - what works for me is baby marrows, leeks and green beans.

Serve with a green salad and avo.

Enjoy!

(14 May 2026)

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