Pat the chicken pieces with salt and set them aside at room temperature. Cut the onions, halving then slicing thinly pole to pole.

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is hot, pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels, then place skin-side down in the pot. Let the chicken cook 4-5 minutes untill well browned, then turn over and cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan to a bowl and set aside.

Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits from the chicken until lightly browned (about 7 minutes).

Add the paprika and some black pepper to the onions and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth, tomato, pepper, and bay leaves, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan again and stirring to mix. Nestle the chicken pieces into the pan on top of the onion mixture. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 20-25 minutes. Once the chicken pieces are cooked through, remove the pan from heat.

Remove the chicken from the pan and let the pan cool for a minute. Remove the bay leaves then stir in the sour cream, and add salt to taste. If the sour cream cools to sauce too much, turn the heat back on and heat the sauce through. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken with dumplings or egg noodles.