Cayenne pepper and Scotch bonnet chillies would give this Spicy African Chicken Stew boldly flavoured peanut casserole a fiery kick. It won’t seem spicy or fiery till it’s there in your belly – trust me in this.. 🙂
Adapted recipe from BBCGoodFood magazine (October 2012) by Sara Buenfeld
- 500ml warm chicken stock
- 340g jar smooth peanut butter
- 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 tbsp finely chopped ginger
- 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic (I added this)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper – optional
- 3 tsp ground coriander
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 1-2 scotch bonnet chillies, deseeded and chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 x 800g pack chicken thighs and drumsticks, skinned
- 3 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
- good handful coriander, chopped, a little reserved for sprinkling
- rice and lime wedges, to serve – optional
Preparation:
- Pour hot stock over peanut butter and stir till dissolved.
- Heat a very large pan and fry onions in oil for 5 mins to soften.
- Add ginger, cayenne (if using), ½ tsp black pepper, coriander, cumin, chillies and bay and cook, stirring, for 2 mins.
- Tip in tomatoes and peanut stock, then stir in chicken pieces.
- Put a lid on pan and leave to simmer for 30 mins, stirring frequently to make sure peanut butter doesn’t stick to base of pan.
- Stir in sweet potatoes, peppers and chopped coriander, then cook for 30 mins more.
- Serve sprinkled with reserved coriander, with rice and lime wedges for squeezing over, if you like.
I’ve got to confess: I didn’t have any scotch bonnets when I made this, I used abt 7 small dried red chillies – washed, stalks removed and left whole so that they could be removed easily before serving.
I’d halved the recipe but we still had so much leftover sauce that it was made into soup stock with some chicken broth. Shredded chicken and ricestick noodles completed another meal.. 🙂
It was good both way; either served with rice or noodles but I would say that peanut butter made this a very rich and quite heavy meal. A little goes a long way, I would say.. Enjoyed it tremendously tho – it was surprisingly delish.. 🙂

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