RECIPE | Almost-Zimbabwean chicken peanut 'soup'

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil

1 free-range chicken, portioned (or equivalent in chicken pieces)

2 onions, thinly sliced (shallots are often used instead, in Zim)

3 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

1 litre water

250ml (1 cup) finely ground roasted peanuts, or unsweetened peanut butter

2 Thai chillies, finely chopped (seeds and membrane removed if you don’t like it crazy-hot)

Salt, to taste

Method:

1) Heat the oil in a pan and brown chicken pieces on all sides. Remove chicken and set aside.

2) In the same pan, fry the onions till transparent, then add the tomato, water, peanut paste and chillies and return the chicken to the pot (the peanut paste may seem lumpy at first, but will amalgamate with the sauce after some cooking).

3) Simmer on low heat until the chicken is tender. If soup is still very watery, turn the heat up a bit and carry on cooking, while stirring, making sure to get into the pot edges (peanuts burn easily).

4) Once soup is slightly thickened — still loose but not watery — add salt to taste, and serve with mealie meal or jasmine rice.