Ghanaian Peanut Curry (Groundnut Soup)

Ghanaian Peanut Curry, or Groundnut Soup as it is known in Ghana, is a rich, peanut butter, tomato and scotch bonnet based curry that is very popular all over West Africa. The scotch bonnets give this curry a serious punch which goes perfectly with the creamy peanut butter sauce. Typically in Ghana it is served with fufu, a pounded cassava and green plantain mixture and then eaten with your hands. I, however, was not feeling that adventurous so I served it with rice, which is more accessible and much less messy to eat!

Note on Recipe

Watch out for the scotch bonnet, they are extremely spicy and the residue can stay on your hands for a couple of hours after handling, so don't rub your eyes, mouth or nose for a while after you have chopped them (it has happened to me many times!) One chilli will give this quite a bit of heat, so use half of one if you don't like your food too spicy, or add a second one if you like your food to make you sweat. Don't leave it out or use a different chilli as the Scotch Bonnet has a unique flavour you will lose if you don't use it.

Ingredients

2 Medium Onions, finely chopped

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped

5 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 Scotch Bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped

500ml chicken stock

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon medium curry powder

2 teaspoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

150g smooth peanut butter

1kg chicken drumsticks or thighs (or about 10 pieces)

50g saltfish (can be found in african or carribean shops, remove as many bones as you can before adding)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serves: 5 people (with rice)

Instructions

1. Add the onions, ginger, garlic, scotch bonnet, tomato purée and 120ml of chicken stock to a blender and blitz until you have a smooth paste

2. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on a medium heat in a heavy bottomed pot, add the chicken and brown on the outside. Once the chicken is browned add the onion paste, bay leaves and curry powder to the pot and cook for around 15 minutes until starting to brown a little, stirring regularly (make sure you stir regularly as the paste will stick to the pot if you don't)

3. While the chicken and paste are cooking, add the chopped tomatoes, peanut butter and remaining stock (380ml) to the blender, and blitz

4. Add the tomato mix to the pot as well as the salt fish and give a good stir

5. Cook for a further 40 minutes on a low heat, until you can see the oil in the peanut butter separates from the sauce. Add a splash of water if it starts to stick and make sure to stir regularly

6. Taste and season as necessary with salt and pepper (it might not need anything) and serve with some nicely cooked fluffy basmati rice (or fufu!)

The Onion Paste pre blending

The onion paste

The browned paste with the chicken

Adding the salt fish

The finished product!