African Ground Nut Stew

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This is my recipe, but I can assure you that there are as many versions of the stew as African cooks. I actually prefer to use stew beef and cook in liquid (stock + coconut cream until very tender and then add peanut butter, spices, and later collard greens. It is common in West Africa that near the end flakes of smoked fish are added, a hard, hot-smoked fish that can be flaked into the stew without the bones, and I like this version very much, but the contest called for chicken so that is what I used. I can assure you adding tomatoes, chiles, squash chunks, or peeled sweet potato chunks are great additions, it is really as flexible as the cook likes.

In west Africa the recipe is often called Mafe and in East Africa it is often a vegetarian dish with no meat, but squashes and greens. Enjoy.

Miriam Chaiken (miriamchaiken@yahoo.com

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I added half a red bell pepper. I cut the chicken stock to 1 quart. It had the consistency of chowder. I used frozen chopped collards, which worked just fine. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Served it over a little rice (not a lot and squeezed a little lime juice over to finish. I left the chili paste out of the pot, but my husband and I added it to our bowls. It really enhances the flavor. Everyone liked it (even my six year old, though my eight year old wasn't thrilled by it. All in all a good recipe, quick, inexpensive, nourishing, and very flavorful. I'll probably make my version again.

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I agree with the too much liquid. That's what I get for not reading the reviews first. I did not have coconut milk, so it lacked flavor. I did add garlic, spinach and fresh parsley. I did some research and other recipes used tomatoes or tomato paste. I had a half tub of spicy salsa. I added that it was greatly improved.

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Because other reviews said it was too runny, i added chicken bullion to my coconut milk and one extra cup of water. This successfully made a thick porridge. I used about 3 Tbs of peanut butter. Yes, it needs acid; red bell pepper and lime made this rich dish lighter.

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This recipe had a lot of liquid, I had to thicken it with cornstarch. I think that I might add some diced tomatoes, red potatoes, and maybe some red bell pepper or something. Wasn't bad overall, but I wouldn't necessarily make it again.

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too much liquid, needed a whole jar. chicken did not pick up flavor. i will try again but will marinate the chicken and add more flavoring; ie: garlic, thyme, whatever.....

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I didn't mind that the quantities were somewhat vague---I'm from the school of thought that a "little bit of this, a little bit of that" means a recipe is new and different every time. And true, the consistency never quite reached "stew" or "peanut sauce" thickness. Nonetheless, I love African Groundnut Stew and am, in fact, going to brew up another double batch this afternoon. I did find that my leftovers from the fridge, a couple of days old, did thicken up some---if the stew-like consistency is important, you may want to try that. I thought the creaminess of the peanut butter and the tropical sweetness of the coconut milk were lovely. I don't like collards, so I used frozen spinach and I couldn't find sambal, so I bought some garlic-chili sauce in the asian foods section of our market and it was perfect. The batch I am going to make today, I am once again using reduced fat peanut butter and frozen spinach, and for texture, am throwing in some whole dry-roasted peanuts. I can't wait for lunch!

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This is a very tasty recipe! I agree that the recipe should be a little more specific with the measurements of things, but it still came out great. I used an entire jar of peanut butter but still couldn't quite get it to have that "stew" consistency. Less stock might do the trick. I threw in some extra veggies too.

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I saw the recipe before the show it appeared on aired, and was intrigued enough to watch the show. The show's preparation seemed different - I didn't see any collard greens, or maybe they just weren't mentioned, as some others weren't.

The recipe as written needs to be a bit more specific about measurements. How much is a jar, or a can?

I used an entire 18 oz. jar of unsweetened peanut butter - nothing but peanuts on the label - and a 14 oz. can of coconut milk, which seems to be pretty standard. I mixed in 4 tablespoons of sambal toward the end, 2 at a time to make sure I didn't overwhelm things. I also used low-sodium chicken stock, and tossed in maybe a tablespoon of salt in the end.

Makes about 5 quarts - if this is six servings, we're talking for linebackers.

It was very tasty. The peanut flavor dominates, but not too strongly, and the coconut milk also comes through; the sambal balances these flavors with some heat.

I think it needs more...stuff. More chicken, more greens, or maybe just less stock. It's an adaptable dish; there are lots of things you could substitute or add. Any kind of greens will work; lamb might be interesting in place of the chicken; carrots and ginger suggest themselves, for some reason.

Worth making, and a good starting point for further exploration.