Friday, May 1, 2009

African Peanut Potato Stew

I really need to catch up on several recipes I've made over the past couple weeks. Yikes! For starters, here's an amazing African stew we had a few days ago, that we gobbled up in no time. The original recipe uses sweet potatoes, but neither Brad nor I care for them, so I decided to replace them with regular potatoes instead. The stew is thick, rich and spicy, the chickpeas are soft and tender, and the potato chunks soak up all kinds of flavor.

To go with this, I made my favorite go-to recipe of Flat Bread. I've lost count of how many times I've made this bread over the past year, but it goes so well with soups and stews that we eat it all the time.

African Peanut Potato Stew

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 14.5 ounce cans chopped tomatoes
2 14.5 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups vegetable broth
¼ cup natural peanut butter
1 pound green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces (fresh or frozen)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeno; cook and stir several minutes or until onion is softened and translucent. Add ginger, garlic, cumin, salt, cinnamon, red pepper and coriander. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add potatoes, tomatoes, chickpeas, vegetable broth and peanut butter. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add green beans, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until green beans are crisp tender. Serve hot.

8 comments:

Michelle {lovely little things} said...

This sounds good, my friend just got back from Tanzania and was raving about the food in that region. I'm interested to try some African recipes. Love your blog!

Cheryl said...

Thanks! I've had the recipe bookmarked for ages, but just now got around to making it. My husband hates peanut butter, so I was afraid he wouldn't like it, but we both gobbled it up.

This was also my first time cooking or eating African food, so I recommend it as a way to get your feet wet!

Thanks for reading!

crankycheryl said...

This sounds so good, and reminds me of a more sophisticated version of something I had in an international children's cookbook 1000 years ago. Thanks for posting!

grace said...

the idea of peanut butter in such a savory dish used to turn my stomach, but now i know how good it is and i think this stew sounds amazing. lovely ingredient list--i've been won over. :)

BakedwithLove said...

This sounds really good...I might try this in the nearby future :)

I hope it's ok for me to put your site on my blogroll page ^^

Anonymous said...

This recipe sounds so good. I'm going to try it sometime this week. BTW - I love the name of your blog!

Lillian said...

definitely going to try this! thanks!

Alisa said...

Sounds like a wonderful recipe! I would love to try this one soon.