Peanut Stew with Chicken (Ghana Hkatenkwan - Ethiopia)

In most of Africa, soups and stews made with peanuts - usually called "groundnuts" - are staple main-meal foods. Unless you relish very hot foods, begin with no more than half the pepper specified here.

1 (3 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 of a whole onion
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon peanut oil or other light cooking oil
1 cup onion, well chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger,
2 hot chiles, crushed, or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
    or 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 cups fresh or frozen okra
1 medium-size eggplant, peeled and cubed

Boil chicken with ginger and the onion half, using about 2 cups water.

Meanwhile, in a separate large pot, fry tomato paste in the oil over low heat for about five minutes. Add to the paste the chopped onions and tomatoes, stirring occasionally until the onions are clear.

Remove the partially cooked chicken pieces and put them, along with about half the broth, in the large pot. Add the peanut butter, salt and peppers. Cook for 5 minutes before stirring in the eggplant and okra. Continue cooking until chicken and vegetables are tender. Add more broth as needed to maintain a thick, stew consistency.

To make this a vegetarian dish, substitute 2 vegetable bouillon cubes for the chicken. Or make fewer pieces of chicken go farther by removing meat from the bone.

Serve over rice.