Moamba de ginguba

Ingredients

Chicken and marinade

• 1.6 kgchicken, jointed into 10 pieces
• juice of 2 limes
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1.5 tspfine salt
• 1 tspblack pepper

Peanut sauce

• 250 graw peanuts, roasted and pounded, or 250 g unsweetened peanut butter
• 100 mlred palm oil
• 3onions, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, chopped
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 300 gokra, topped and left whole
• 2jindungo chillies, whole
• 700 mlwater
• 1.5 tspfine salt

To serve

• 700 gfunge de bombo
• gindungo sauce
• 300 gkizaka or wilted greens

Directions

1. Rub the chicken with the lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper and leave 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Warm the palm oil in a heavy pot over medium heat until it turns clear red, about 90°C (195°F), never letting it smoke.
3. Brown the chicken in batches, 6–8 minutes a batch, until deeply coloured, then lift it out.
4. Fry the onions in the same oil for 12 minutes until soft and golden, add the garlic for a minute, then the tomato paste and cook 3 minutes until it darkens and the oil separates.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook 10 minutes to a thick base that pulls away from the pan.
6. Slake the pounded peanuts with 300 ml of the water into a smooth cream, then stir it in gradually; adding it dry makes it seize into lumps.
7. Return the chicken with the remaining water and the whole chillies, bring to a bare simmer and cook uncovered 35–40 minutes, stirring often so the peanut does not catch on the base.
8. Add the okra for the last 12 minutes only, laid on top, so it softens but keeps its shape and does not turn to slime.
9. The sauce is ready when it coats the chicken thickly and a slick of red-gold oil rises to the surface, which is the sign the peanut has cooked out.
10. Season, lift out the chillies, rest 5 minutes and serve with funge, greens and gindungo.

Technique

• Moamba comes in two forms and they are often confused: moamba de dende is made with the pulped pulp of the palm fruit, while moamba de ginguba is built on roasted groundnuts. Both are national dishes and both are served with funge.
• Stir the pot. Peanut sauces scorch on the base faster than almost anything else, and a burnt note carries through the whole dish.
• Watch for the oil breaking out of the sauce at the end. In West and Central African peanut cooking that separation is the standard sign of a finished stew, not a fault.

Substitutions

• Unsweetened peanut butter replaces the pounded nuts one for one; check that it contains no sugar, which would turn the sauce cloying.
• No palm oil: use groundnut oil with 1 tsp of sweet paprika for colour. The dish loses its earthiness but stays honest.

Variations

• Moamba de galinha, the palm-fruit version, dark orange and richer.
• Made with guinea fowl, the older village preference.
• A version with pumpkin cubes cooked into the sauce for the last 20 minutes.

History

Chicken or fish stewed in ground peanut sauce, a milder cousin of palm-oil muamba found across northern Angola.

Frequently asked questions

What is Moamba de ginguba?

Moamba de ginguba is a soup & stew from Angola: chicken simmered in thick roasted-peanut sauce. Chicken or fish stewed in ground peanut sauce, a milder cousin of palm-oil muamba found across northern Angola.

How long does Moamba de ginguba take to make?

Moamba de ginguba takes 30 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 Moamba de ginguba?

Yes, within limits. Unsweetened peanut butter replaces the pounded nuts one for one; check that it contains no sugar, which would turn the sauce cloying. No palm oil: use groundnut oil with 1 tsp of sweet paprika for colour. The dish loses its earthiness but stays honest.

What is the most important thing to get right in Moamba de ginguba?

Warm the palm oil in a heavy pot over medium heat until it turns clear red, about 90°C (195°F), never letting it smoke.