This recipe took me well outside my comfort zone, but the payoff was well worth it. The combination may seem unusual — chicken, sweet potato, peanut butter, tomatoes — but the sauce comes together and thickens magnificently as it cooks, melding the flavors to create a warm, comforting, aromatic stew.

I’ve included directions below to make this as a vegan stew. Essentially you increase the amount of sweet potato and add greens — like kale or collard greens — and leave out the chicken. This is, in fact, often made and served without the chicken, so it is easily adaptable.

Ingredients

  • 2 onions
  • 4 tbsp. oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1-inch piece ginger, minced
  • 2 red chilli peppers, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp. ground coriander
  • 2 lbs. chicken breast
  • 4 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 400-gram can diced tomatoes
  • 1 ½ cups peanut butter
  • 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (use water if you don’t have either)
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • kosher salt
  • black pepper
  • Serve with: toasted peanuts, cilantro, rice, steamed greens

Directions

  1. Peel the onion and slice it into quarter rounds. In a large frying pan, saute the onion in the oil until translucent, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, chili, and ground coriander and cook for 3-4 minutes until you begin to strongly smell the spices.
  3. Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks, add to the pan, and cook for a few minutes until the chicken is sealed.
  4. Transfer the mixture to a large pot and add the tomato paste, diced tomato, peanut butter, and broth (or water). Cut the sweet potato into bite-size pieces and add to the pot.
  5. Cover and cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through but still soft and juicy.
  6. Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro (use parsley if you don’t like cilantro) and toasted peanuts.
  7. OPTIONAL: To make this vegan, don’t use the chicken and use vegetable broth in the sauce. Use extra sweet potatoes and add greens, sliced into ribbons, — like kale or collard greens — when you transfer all the ingredients to the pot.

Refrigerates well for 3-4 days.

Serves: 6-8

Credit for this recipe goes to Kitchen Sanctuary. I made very minimal changes.