Chicken Mafé

This beautiful West African peanut stew originates from Mali but is very popular in Senegal and other West African countries. It can at times be hard to source the exact ingredients needed but there are substitutes that I will mention below. As with all popular recipes, the ingredients can vary from country to country and from family to family, as each pass on their own recipe to their children. For example, I am using chicken in this recipe, but I have seen lamb or beef being used. Carrots and potatoes seem to be in every version I've seen, however, many use a sweet potato (added in the latter part with the regular potatoes) instead of the green pepper that I am using, and others add cabbage. For the heat, some versions use cayenne pepper instead of fresh chillies and on the topic of peanut butter... do not use sweet peanut butter! It can be the chunky or smooth version but it must be regular unsweetened peanut butter. Serve with rice or with bread and a scatter of freshly chopped chilli over the top, if you dare.

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 parts (or 1kg chicken thighs)

2 cm ginger, peeled & roughly chopped

6 cloves of garlic, peeled & roughly chopped

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp rock salt

Scotch Bonnet chilli (can be replaced by 2 regular chillies or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper)

3 tbsp peanut oil (sunflower oil will do)

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp fish sauce

150gr concentrated tomato paste

200gr peanut butter

1.4L water

3 carrots, diced

1 green pepper, sliced into 2cm x 2cm pieces

350gr potato, sliced into bite-sized cubes

instructions:

Using your mortar & pestle, grind the ginger, garlic, pepper, salt & chillies into as smooth a paste as you can manage. It's perfectly fine if it has small bits in it.

Place your chicken in a large bowl & cover with the paste. Ensure all sides of the chicken pieces have been slathered with the mix. Cover & set aside for a minimum of 2 hours. You can do this step the night before & leave the chicken to marinate overnight.

Before you begin cooking, use a blender or mixer to combine the peanut butter with 40cl of water. This will create a smoother consistency that will be easier to add to the dish later.

In a large casserole dish, heat the peanut oil.

Add the onion & simmer on low heat until golden, roughly 3 minutes.

Add the fish sauce & tomato paste, stir well & simmer another 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

Slowly add the peanut butter / water mixture, mixing well to combine.

Follow by slowly adding the remaining 1 litre of water, mixing well.

Add in the chicken & any remaining marinade in the bowl.

Give it a gentle stir and bring to boil on medium heat.

Once boiling, reduce to a low heat & cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Add the carrots & peppers, stir & simmer, still on low and uncovered, a further 15 minutes.

Add the potatoes & carry on another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are still holding their shape but are cooked through. Check the seasoning & add salt if needed.

Serve with rice & fresh chilli for an extra kick!