Botswanian Groundnut Chicken Stew with Okra

This was a last minute change to my plans. I had some chicken breasts and had a plan to pan fry them with quinoa, but The Bloke intervened just before he left for work. He noted that a lot of readers on the blog were from Botswana and casually suggested I should try something from there. He then left for work and I sat for a moment, agreeing with him. 

So this is the dish I came up with. Botswana do an amazing dish called Groundnut Stew. Now after some research I found that peanuts are not actually a nut but from the legume family.What is a legume? It is a type of plant with seeds that grow inside pods such as peas or beans. Unlike nuts, which are grown on trees, peanuts grow underground. Hence Groundnut Stew.

I threw in some okra at the end, which is not traditional to the dish although as often the way, there any many versions. Some adding fresh tomatoes, some adding brown sugar. I did my version. You can really put in any vegetable - in fact having tried it now, I think green beans would work better than okra - but I guess that's a matter of taste.

Ingredients:  (Serves 4)

3 chicken breasts, skin removed, chopped into large chunks
120g peanut butter
100g tomato paste
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
1 inch piece ginger, chopped finely
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup (250ml) cold water
1 scotch bonnet, left whole and pierced with a knife
1 tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
handful veg of choice, green beans/okra

Method:

Make the sauce by putting the peanut butter, tomato paste, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes in a bowl. Slowly add the water, mixing as you go to make a creamy sauce. Leave to one side.

In a non-stick pan, fry the onion and green pepper for 5 minutes until tender. Add the chicken and continue to cook. Pour the sauce over the top, stir and leave to simmer for 30 mins, partly covered. You will need to stir quite a bit as even in a non stick pan, the peanut butter can cause it to stick at the bottom. Then add the green beans or okra and the whole scotch bonnet chilli for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve with rice and remember to remove the whole chilli!

Note: During my research into the food of Botswana I found a lovely little recipe for lemon biscuits. I think I'll make them today!