Peanut chicken stew
West African peanut stew with chicken and sweet potato in a creamy sauce of peanut butter and tomato, served over rice.
Cook modeAbout the dish
Peanut stew with chicken is cooked all over West Africa, and in Mali and Senegal it is called mafé. The sauce is made from tomatoes, stock and peanut butter, and as it simmers it turns so creamy and rich that you need nothing but rice with it. With sweet potato and chicken thighs it becomes a really filling stew that tastes just as good reheated.
Two small steps make the difference. First you fry the tomato paste briefly in the pot, which gives the sauce depth. Then you stir the peanut butter with a little hot stock in a cup until smooth before it goes in, so it does not form lumps. Make sure you use smooth peanut butter, or the sauce turns grainy.
After just under half an hour the thighs are tender and the sweet potato is soft. If the sauce gets too thick, add a little water. If it is too thin, let it reduce with the lid off for a few more minutes.
Finish with spring onion and a squeeze of lemon. The stew firms up in the fridge, so when you reheat it, stir in a splash of water until the sauce is smooth again.
Ingredients
Steps
What to drink
Cold hibiscus tea
Hibiscus tea from a bag, brewed strong and well chilled, is nicely tart and goes well with the rich peanut sauce. In West Africa it is drunk as bissap.
Variations
- Chickpeas instead of chicken
- Leave out the chicken and add 400 g drained chickpeas with the sweet potato. It needs about 5 minutes less.
- With white cabbage
- Stir in 300 g finely shredded white cabbage for the last 10 minutes. It softens and soaks up plenty of the sauce.
- Hotter
- Add a chopped fresh chilli with the ginger, or another teaspoon of chilli flakes.