Senegalese chicken mafé with peanut sauce and rice

Ingredients

• 4 pieces chicken thighs
• 120 g unsweetened peanut butter
• 400 g crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 pieces carrots
• 1 piece sweet potato
• 2 pieces yellow onions
• 320 g long-grain rice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 15 g fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp peanut oil or neutral oil
• 700 ml chicken broth
• 1 leaf bay leaf
• 1 piece fresh chili or whole habanero pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• to taste fine salt
• to taste ground black pepper

Method

1. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs, then let them come to room temperature while preparing the vegetables; the skin should lose its surface moisture to brown better.
2. Slice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger; cut the carrots on a bias and the sweet potato into even chunks so they become tender without falling apart.
3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven and brown the chicken skin-side down, then meat-side down, over medium-high heat until well browned with fond at the bottom of the pot; set the chicken aside.
4. Sauté the onion in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until softened, browned on the edges, and fragrant; scrape up the fond with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the garlic, ginger, and tomato paste, then cook, stirring, until the paste darkens slightly and almost sticks to the bottom; it should smell like candied tomato rather than raw.
6. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, stir to get a thick, glossy base, then incorporate the peanut butter, thinned with a little hot broth to prevent lumps.
7. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven with the bay leaf, carrots, sweet potato, whole chili, and the rest of the broth; partially cover and simmer gently until the chicken is tender and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
8. While simmering, rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear, then cook separately in salted water until the grains are tender and separated; keep warm, covered.
9. Remove the chili and bay leaf, then adjust the sauce with salt, pepper, and lemon juice; it should be thick, glossy, round in the mouth, but lifted by a touch of acidity.
10. Serve the mafé very hot over the rice, with plenty of sauce around the chicken and the tender vegetables clearly visible.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

660.7 kcal

Protein

20.62 g

Carbohydrate

83.33 g

Fat

27.2 g

Fibre

6.4 g

Calcium

29.27 mg

Iron

0.58 mg

Magnesium

21.68 mg