This is a lighter version of a very popular Ghanaian soup widely known as groundnut soup, or as Mama would call it, peanut butter soup. In the soup I made, I used very little peanut butter in order to keep it light, but you can use as much or as little peanut butter as you like. This is in fact a very similar process to making light soup, except with the added peanut butter.
You will need:
A blender (tools are very important)
Kitchen essentials: blender
2 medium onions or 1 large one
3 very ripe large tomatoes
1 whole chicken, chopped to pieces (we like boiler chicken, free run, “koko ya Setswana”)
garden eggs (optional)
12 okra (with ends trimmed)
1 scotch bonnet pepper or kpakpo shito
Ginger
1.75l chicken stock
Peanut butter
Water to mix with the peanut butter
Place the whole onion, pepper, tomatoes and chicken pieces in the pot and top with the stock. Cover, bring to the boil and reduce to simmer till vegetables are soft and tender. Remove the vegetables.
Add blended veg to soup
Blend the vegetables and ginger in a food processor and return to the soup. Bring to the boil then reduce to simmer till the chicken is cooked. Boiler chicken can be quite tough, so it may need extra time cooking.
Scoop the Peanut butter into a saucepan
Meanwhile, make the peanut butter sauce. There are different ways of doing this, I have opted to go for what is easier for me. Scoop the desired amount of peanut butter into a saucepan and put on gentle heat with constant stirring.
Add water a little at a time
Add water a little at a time. This can be quite tricky as the water instantly changes the runny peanut butter properties. I would say it is a similar experience to white sauce, when the milk is added to the flour and butter mixture. Once a smooth sauce is achieved, allow to simmer. You will find the peanut oil begins to separate from the peanut butter. When this happens, you can add it to the rest of the soup and simmer. Check seasoning to your taste. Serve with your favourite carbs such as boiled sliced yam or potatoes.
Traditionally, this is served with fufu. I garnished the meal with some fresh coriander.
Traditional fufu
Bon appetite.
Peanut butter soup
4 Comments
Una
March 12, 2012 at 6:53 amYum.
You are corrupting my carefully planned, slim-sure, meal plans with this peanut butter business!
When do we add the okra?
MyBurntOrange
March 12, 2012 at 9:50 amOh! Good point. You can add the okra just before the peanut butter sauce. Hey, maybe you can cut something else out to make room for the peanut butter 😉
Dija
August 6, 2012 at 9:05 pmThis is one of my favourite recipes. Its very popular in Sierra Leone where I was born and lived till I was 10. We make it thicker and serve it with rice. Delish!! My mum eats it with okra, but I go in straight 🙂
MyBurntOrange
August 6, 2012 at 10:21 pmHi! Thanks for stopping by. The flavours of West Africa are to die for. Ghana is where my folks are from, hence my predominantly Ghanaian palate, but I was born and raised in Botswana and have lived in several countries since I was 20. I tend to re-mix my mom’s recipes depending on how I feel. I know in some other places, the soup is so think it is more like a stew. Thanks again for your comment and reading 🙂