West African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
A savory West African style peanut stew with bone-in chicken, a fried tomato paste base, chunks of sweet potato and a whole scotch bonnet, finished with greens and chopped peanuts and served over rice.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
For the Stew
- 2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs about 6
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil or other neutral oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 15 oz crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- ¾ cup smooth peanut butter conventional, not natural
- 1 whole scotch bonnet or habanero chile pierced twice, left whole
- 1 ½ lb sweet potatoes peeled, cut into ¾ inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 5 oz baby spinach or chopped collard greens
To Serve
- ⅓ cup roasted salted peanuts roughly chopped
- 4 cups cooked white rice
Instructions
Brown the Chicken
- Season the chicken thighs all over with 1 teaspoon of the salt.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Lay the thighs in skin side down and brown undisturbed for 6 to 7 minutes, then flip and brown 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate, leaving the fat in the pot.
Build the Base
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook the onion in the rendered fat for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and just beginning to color.
- Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato paste and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until it darkens to a brick red, sticks lightly to the pot and smells sweet rather than raw. This step builds the savory base.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, coriander and black pepper, scraping the bottom of the pot, then pour in the stock.
Temper the Peanut Butter
- Return the chicken and any collected juices to the pot. Pull off and discard the skin from each thigh. Add the whole pierced chile.
- Ladle 1 cup of the hot broth into a bowl and whisk the peanut butter into it until completely smooth, then stir the mixture back into the pot. Never add cold peanut butter directly to the pot.
Simmer and Finish
- Bring to a bare simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Do not let it boil once the peanut butter is in, or the stew will split.
- Add the sweet potato chunks and simmer 20 to 25 minutes more, until tender at the center and the chicken pulls from the bone.
- Remove the chile and the bones. Roughly shred the meat and return it to the pot.
- Stir in the spinach and let it wilt off the heat for 2 minutes, or simmer chopped collards for 8 minutes. Taste and add the remaining salt, it will need more than you expect.
- Serve over white rice, topped with chopped roasted peanuts.
Notes
- Fry the tomato paste: 2 to 3 minutes until it darkens is the single biggest flavor step in the recipe.
- Temper the peanut butter: whisk it smooth into a cup of hot broth before it enters the pot, or it will seize into lumps.
- Never boil after the peanut goes in: a hard boil breaks the emulsion. If it splits, take it off the heat, add a splash of cold stock and stir hard.
- Chunk size: ¾ inch sweet potato holds its shape. Smaller dice dissolves and turns the stew into a puree.
- Heat control: the whole pierced chile gives aroma without committing the pot. Squeeze it against the side for more heat, or mince half of it in for serious heat.
- Storage: 4 days refrigerated, 3 months frozen without the greens. It thickens as it sits, so loosen with stock on reheating.