Groundnut sauce

Ingredients

Groundnut

• 300 ggroundnut paste
• or 300 g unsweetened peanut butter
• or 350 g roasted peanuts, ground fine
• about 700 ml water or stock

The pot

• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonstomato paste
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 2stock cubes
• 1chilli, chopped, optional
• salt and black pepper

Sometimes added

• 200 gsmoked fish, flaked
• 150 gmushrooms
• a handful of greens
• 2 tablespoonsground sesame

To serve

• matooke, steamed green banana
• sweet potato
• cassava
• plain rice
• posho

Directions

1. Discard any nuts that are shrivelled or discoloured. Discard any that smell musty or taste bitter. Never use nuts with visible mould. Check the label for added sugar. Never add the paste straight to a hot pot. Put the paste in a bowl first. Add warm water a little at a time. Whisk it smooth between each addition.
2. Keep going until it is a thin cream. That takes patience but prevents all lumps. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for about eight minutes.
3. Add the crushed garlic and the chilli. Cook them for a good two minutes. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Fry it for a good two minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Cook them down for about eight minutes. Pour the loosened groundnut mixture in. Stir it through the pan thoroughly. Add the rest of the water or stock.
5. Crumble in the stock cubes as well. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a very gentle simmer. Cooking it takes real attention. Let it simmer for about thirty minutes. Stir it every few minutes without fail.
6. Use the lowest heat that keeps it moving. It should coat the back of a spoon. Add more water if it goes too thick. Oil separates and rises as it cooks. Stir in flaked smoked fish near the end. Add mushrooms with the tomato. Add greens for the last five minutes.
7. Taste it and adjust the salt now. It needs more salt than you expect. Add more chilli if you want heat. Serving it is done piping hot. Ladle it generously over the starch. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Peanuts are native to South America and reached Africa through Portuguese Atlantic trade from the sixteenth century, as cassava, maize and chilli did, so much of African cooking rests on American crops that now feel entirely African.
• Groundnuts can carry aflatoxin, a mould toxin linked to liver damage and liver cancer that roasting does not destroy, so discard any nuts that are shrivelled, discoloured, musty or bitter.
• Never add groundnut paste straight to a hot pot, since it seizes into lumps that never disperse; loosen it in a bowl with warm water added gradually until it is a thin cream.

Substitutions

• Unsweetened peanut butter stands in for groundnut paste, but check the label for added sugar.
• Any starch works under it, including rice and posho as well as matooke.

Variations

• Smoked fish, mushrooms or greens are all stirred into the sauce.
• Odii in northern Uganda adds ground sesame to the groundnut.
• Similar groundnut sauces are made right across West and Central Africa.

History

Known as binyebwa, groundnuts pounded to paste and simmered; peanuts came from South America through Portuguese Atlantic trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is Groundnut sauce?

Groundnut sauce is a sauce & condiment from Uganda: smooth peanut sauce poured over matooke and sweet potatoes. Known as binyebwa, groundnuts pounded to paste and simmered; peanuts came from South America through Portuguese Atlantic trade.

How long does Groundnut sauce take to make?

Groundnut sauce takes 20 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Groundnut sauce?

Yes, within limits. Unsweetened peanut butter stands in for groundnut paste, but check the label for added sugar. Any starch works under it, including rice and posho as well as matooke.

What is the most important thing to get right in Groundnut sauce?

Discard any nuts that are shrivelled or discoloured. Discard any that smell musty or taste bitter. Never use nuts with visible mould. Check the label for added sugar. Never add the paste straight to a hot pot. Put the paste in a bowl first. Add warm water a little at a time. Whisk it smooth between each addition.