West African Groundnut Spicy Chicken Soup

I asked D if we could have this one, since we had a ton of peanut butter.  And I wanted soup.  Of course I waited until it was 60 degrees outside.  Neither of us really tasted the spiciness of the serranos (all Kroger had), but the soup was very flavorful.  D thought maybe the spices were eaten by the sugar from the peanut butter. We would have again. We had with rice.


West African Groundnut Spicy Chicken Soup

Photo by ALB

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 10 mins

West African Groundnut Spicy Chicken Soup is thick, fragrant and comforting.

Servings: 6
Adapted from Recipes from a Pantry

Ingredients
12 chicken drumsticks
2 tsp ground coriander divided
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme
Black pepper
Salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion peeled and finely diced
2 red pepper bell deseeded and finely diced
14 oz chopped tomatoes (used a can of diced tomatoes)
5 tbsp smooth peanut butter (used Jif)
1 cm piece of peeled ginger roughly chopped
2 ​garlic cloves peeled
Scotch bonnet chile (used 2 unseeded serranos, but it wasn't spicy)
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 cups chicken broth


Instructions
Season chicken with 1 tsp ground coriander, garlic powder, thyme, pepper and salt.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to a frying pan over medium heat and brown the chicken on all sides in batches. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 5 mins until the onions are softened.

Add 1 tbsp chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp water, the peanut butter, the garlic, ginger and chopped scotch bonnet to the mini chopper. (or chop everything really fine on a cutting board and put into the pan with the peanut butter). Give it a quick stir to loosen up the peanut butter and blend into a paste.

Stir the blended peanut butter sauce, the remaining ingredients and chicken back into the onion mix, bring to a boil, then reduce to a 'rolling simmer' for about 60 mins.

Leave cover ajar during cooking as you want the peanut sauce to reduce.

Stir the mix occasionally during the 60 minutes as the peanut butter could settle at the bottom of the pot.
You want a peanut soup that is darker, tastes sweeter and 'caramelised' at the end'. (You will see a few small bits of oil floating at the top when done.) At the end of 60 mins, taste stew and adjust seasoning, then turn off.

Serve with rice (plantains or bread) and garnish with nuts, herbs and spring onions.

Recipe Notes
The soup foams up during boiling, so you need to reduce it to a 'rolling or roiling' simmer as soon as it starts to boil.

For a slightly thicker more caramelised sauce that my family prefers then simmer for another 15 mins.

8 Smart Points (my additions/subtractions at 6 servings)