Ghanaian Peanut Stew
Submitted by brianjwood on October 10, 2002 at 3:49 am

DESCRIPTION
Ghanaian Peanut Stew

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
This is a delightful, flavourful dish, surprising (in a good way!) to those who have never tried peanuts as a thickener. Use the smooth peanut butter, unsalted, or grind your own.PLEASE don't leave out the chillies, at least a half of one, it really sets off the blandness of the peanut flavour.
Cheers, Brian

Even though the peanut (groundnut to some) is native to South America, we often associate it with African cooking because it was introduced to Africa by Spanish and Portuguese colonists, and was subsequently brought to North America by African slaves. Here is an authentic West African dish using the ubiquitous legume:

Ghanaian Peanut Stew (Nketie Wonu)

3 Tbs (45 ml) vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs (675 g) stewing beef, cut into 1-inch (3 cm) cubes
3 medium onions, diced
1-2 hot chili peppers, chopped (optional)
3 cups (750 ml) beef stock or water
6 oz (170 g) tomato paste
5 Tbs (75 ml) creamy peanut butter, preferably unsweetened
3-4 potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
4-6 carrots, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot and saute the beef until browned on all sides. Add the onions and optional chili peppers and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, and peanut butter and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to incorporate the tomato paste and peanut butter. Add the potatoes, carrots, salt, and pepper and simmer covered for 1 hour. Serves
4 to 6.
reproduced with The Chef's permission
Bon appetit from the Chef at World Wide Recipes