Groundnut soup

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1.2 kgchicken, in pieces on the bone
• 1onion, quartered
• salt

Peanut

• 300 gunsweetened peanut butter, or ground roasted peanuts

Base

• 4tomatoes, or 400 g tinned
• 1onion
• 2scotch bonnet peppers, or to taste
• a thumb of ginger
• 4 clovesgarlic

Also

• 1.5 litresstock or water
• 2 tspground dried shrimp or a stock cube
• 1 tspground grains of paradise or black pepper
• salt

Sometimes

• garden eggs, small African aubergines
• okra
• smoked fish

To serve

• fufu, omo tuo rice balls, or plain rice

Directions

1. Add the stock gradually, a ladle at a time, working out every lump before adding more. It should end up like thin cream before it goes anywhere near the soup.
2. Season the chicken and simmer it with the quartered onion and water for twenty minutes to make the stock. In Ghana a tougher stewing bird is used, which gives far better flavour and needs longer cooking.
3. Blend the tomatoes, onion, ginger, garlic and peppers into a smooth purée. Add it to the pot with the chicken and simmer for fifteen minutes to cook out the raw taste. Cook the blended base properly before the peanut goes in, since raw blended onion and tomato taste harsh.
4. Simmer it uncovered so it reduces and thickens gradually. Nkatenkwan is a soup rather than a stew and should pour rather than sit, though it thickens considerably as it cooks.
5. Add more stock as needed to keep it loose enough. Scotch bonnets are used generously in Ghana and the soup should be properly hot.
6. Add them whole for aroma without much heat, or blended in for the full effect. Add garden eggs or okra in the last twenty minutes if you are using them.
7. Taste and season firmly with salt and ground shrimp or a stock cube. Serve it in a bowl with a ball of fufu or omo tuo sitting in the middle.

Technique

• The peanut must be loosened with hot stock before it goes in the pot.
• The soup must simmer until the peanut oil separates and rises.
• Use unsweetened peanut butter with no additives.

Substitutions

• Natural unsweetened peanut butter in place of freshly ground peanuts.
• Beef or smoked fish in place of chicken.

Variations

• Made with beef or goat.
• With garden eggs and okra.
• Made vegetarian, with mushrooms and garden eggs.

Frequently asked questions

What is Groundnut soup?

Groundnut soup is a soup & stew from Ghana: peanut soup with chicken, ladled over fufu or omo tuo.

How long does Groundnut soup take to make?

Groundnut soup takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Groundnut soup?

Yes, within limits. Natural unsweetened peanut butter in place of freshly ground peanuts. Beef or smoked fish in place of chicken.

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

Simmer it uncovered so it reduces and thickens gradually. Nkatenkwan is a soup rather than a stew and should pour rather than sit, though it thickens considerably as it cooks.