Chicken in groundnut/peanut sauce

Description

Groundnuts are what is known in some places as "peanuts". Here is a simple recipe showing how you could prepare chicken in groundnut/peanut sauce.

Recipe Category: 
Poultry
Source: admin
Prep time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 1⁄5 kg
chicken
250 g
Groundnut/peanut butte/paster (pounded groundnuts are fine)
2  
onions
2  
tomatoes
1 1⁄2 t
curry (or other spices)
2 clv
garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
1  
salt to taste
1  
Habanero or scotch bonnet Pepper (or 1 teaspoon black pepper,)
   
etc
2 T
oil
1⁄2 l
hot water
2 cg
paprikas

Instructions

  • Pour the oil in a very hot Teflon (best) pan and sauté the chicken until almost ready. You will need to keep turning them. [A “real” African chicken] may require considerably more time. ;) ]. For the “exotic” type, some 15 – 20 min. on high heat will do.
  • In the meantime, chop the onions, garlic (finely), tomatoes and paprika.
  • Put the chicken aside, but use its oil (there should be some in the pan) to fry the onions, garlic and paprika on medium heat for about 5 min.
  • Add the tomatoes. Stir and cover the pan.
  • Mix the groundnut paste/powder with some of the 500ml hot water. You may need a whisk to make sure no lumps form.
  • Mix this with vegetables and stir well. Add the chicken & stir. Add the rest of the water.
  • Add salt, curry & pepper*. The pepper I use here is a very hot but very aromatic type. It should be handled with care unless you know what you are doing, stir with care so it does not get punctured [See this guide to peppers: http://missvickie.com/howto/spices/peppers/peppersdict.html & the comment about habaneros … ;)]. I personally like the aroma it adds to sauce, but have lots of respect for its hotness. Depending on how much you can take, though, a bit of it can be crushed & mixed. If left unpunctured, you hardly feel any hotness. Many West Africans, who use pepper much more often in their foods, may smile at this. I am sure I saw some guy from Guinea, who sautered these peppers in oil with some onions & nothing more & used them as sauce!!! His taste buds' nerves are definitely dead.
    Otherwise, black pepper, chili or other types you are familiar with can be used instead. Of course, pepper is optional.
  • Bring it to the boil while stirring now & then & then cover and cook on low heat for 20 – 30 minutes. It is best to use a Teflon pan, which reduces the danger of scorching. Low heat and a deep enough pan also ensures it does not boil over. If the sauce is too thick, you may need to add some little water.

Notes

You can serve the sauce with steamed potatoes, posho (also known elsewhere as ugali, kawunga, nshima, etc, matooke, chapati, rice & so on.
Feel free to use spices & vegetables of your choice.
That sauce is quite fatty … A nice salad in addition would not be bad at all.

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