Pictorial: Mafé!

Cuisine of Africa: Groundnut Stew / Peanut Stew

ingredients

6 X chicken breast (cubed)
2 X bay leave
3 X onion (diced)
9 X dried chile (roasted, ground)
8 X green beans (topped, tailed and halved)
1 X sweet potato (chunk'd)
3 X carrot (chunk'd)
1 X turnip (chunk'd)
3 X celery stalk (chopped)
400 G skinned tomatoes in their juice (14 oz)
1 CUP peanuts (fresh/raw, roasted, ground)
2 CUP chicken stock
2 TBSP tyhme
4 TBSP peanut oil
1 TBSP butter

prep work first



roast the dried chile, but don't burn them, stir constantly until fragrant



ground the roasted chile to a fine powder, set aside



roast the peanuts, again don't burn them, stir constantly until lightly browned



ground peanuts, add a table spoon of peanut oil and water



blend until desired constancy (cream or crunchy) is achieved,
(with a pinch of salt instead of the water and it would be perfectly fine peanut butter)



heat oil and butter in a big pot, add the chicken, don't stir



brown the chicken, no need to cook it all the way through



remove the chicken chunks and replace them with the diced onion, celery and carrot pieces



saute until the onions start to brown, add tomatoes and simmer for a moment



add turnip chunks, one cup of chicken stock, peanut cream and ground chile, simmer for 30 min



add sweet potato chunks, thyme and green beans and another cup of chicken stock



add another cup of chicken stock and let simmer until the sweet potato and turnip chunks
are done (think al dente here), this shouldn't take more than another 20 min



serve with a rice of your choice (in this case with a mix of brown and long grain rice)




final thoughts on the dish: the ground nuts really add a nice thick, creamy, nuttiness (without an overly strong peanutty flavor!) and the thyme really cuts right through it in a very refreshing way, truely delicious ... instant classic, highly recommendable