Vegan goulash with seitan and dumplings

By Tracy

Here in this part of Germany, it's not difficult to find vegan items in ordinary shops, and there is a wide range of seitan-based foods, as well as veganised versions of traditional noodles, dumplings etc (that is, made without the egg that might be in the traditional ones).

There are lots of vegan goulash recipes on the internet, but I thought I'd add my variation. Goulash is originally Hungarian but there are variations on it all over Europe.

Everything in this recipe could be made vegan from scratch -- I used all fresh vegetables, but pre-made seitan, packet-mix dumplings and spätzle. (Maybe before leaving Germany I will have to get a spätzle-maker like the one on this page, because there won't be any pre-made.) Having both dumplings and spätzle is doubling up a bit, but it was very cold on the day I made it, and as a French mother once said to me long ago, in a European winter, il faut des calories...

It's snowing again today, so that might be a good excuse for more vegan goulash.

Vegan Goulash

Ingredients

Oil for frying
Large onion, chopped
1 eggplant
4-6 medium tomatoes
6 large button mushrooms
Enough seitan for 3 people (!)
Spices for goulash (mine were a mix of: Paprika, chilli, cumin, marjoram, garlic, thyme, cloves, rosemary --20g total) -- the essential is the paprika
Other veg (I added potatoes and chunks of carrot)
Vegan cooking cream (different brands available depending where you live)
Fresh lemon

For dumplings: I used packet mix, but you can make them from scratch if you have time and patience. Half-&-half dumplings use half pre-cooked potato and half raw -- they are then dropped gently into boiling water and simmered for 20-30 minutes. You could also try the Vegan Society's recipe.)

In our case: vegan spätzle to serve -- you could also use rice...

Sauté chopped onion in oil and spices (being careful not to burn spices), then add cubed eggplant till it cooks very soft. Next add in chopped tomatoes (very small pieces if keeping skins on) and mushroom.

In a separate pan, fry the seitan to seal (it doesn't usually go mushy, but this makes sure it keeps texture) -- and add the spätzle when the seitan has browned. Dumplings simmering alongside, there.

Just before the meal is ready to serve, squeeze fresh lemon juice into the goulash mixture, and stir through a little vegan cooking cream (or use thinly to garnish) -- if you want super-spicy, don't use too much vegan cream!

I put the seitan and spätzle onto the plate as a base, then topped with the goulash.

Last step: eat. Served in this case with "lamb's lettuce", also known as corn salad.