About this Dish
West Africa's great peanut stew — lamb or chicken slow-cooked in a rich sauce of ground peanuts, tomatoes and vegetables. The peanut sauce thickens and enriches as it cooks, becoming a deeply satisfying broth of extraordinary complexity. Eaten across West Africa but considered a Senegalese speciality. Served over rice or with bread for scooping.
IngredientsServes 4
🍗Bone-in chicken thighs or lamb shoulder, 1kg cut into large chunks
🥜Natural peanut butter (smooth, no sugar), 200g
🍅Tomato paste, 3 tablespoons
🧅Large onion, 1 roughly chopped
🥕Carrots, 2 cut into thick rounds
🥔Sweet potato, 1 large peeled and cubed
🌶️Fresh scotch bonnet or habanero chilli, 1 whole (pierced but left intact)
🧄Garlic cloves, 4 minced
🫒Neutral oil such as sunflower, 3 tablespoons
🐟Fish sauce or Maggi seasoning cube, 1 tablespoon or 1 cube
Method
1
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the meat in batches until golden on all sides, then set aside. Do not rush this step — the browning adds deep flavour to the final stew.2
In the same pot, fry the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another 2 minutes until the paste darkens slightly and smells fragrant.3
Return the meat to the pot and add enough water to just cover everything, around 750ml. Add the fish sauce or Maggi cube, stir well and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes.4
In a bowl, whisk the peanut butter with a ladleful of the hot cooking liquid until smooth and pourable, then stir this mixture into the pot. This prevents lumps and ensures the sauce is silky throughout.5
Add the carrots, sweet potato and the whole pierced chilli to the pot, stir gently and continue simmering uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the peanut sauce from catching on the bottom.6
The stew is ready when the meat is tender, the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce has thickened to a rich, glossy consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Remove the chilli if you want less heat or leave it in for more.7
Taste and adjust salt, then serve in deep bowls over white rice or with crusty bread for scooping up the sauce.User Reviews
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