West African Peanut Stew (Vegan) - The Simple Veganista (2024)

FAQs

Why is it called African peanut stew? ›

Groundnut stew, also known as peanut stew or soup, is a traditional African dish that has been enjoyed for centuries. Its origins can be traced back to West Africa, where groundnuts have been a staple food for centuries. The dish is also known as Maafe in Cameroon, where it is a popular traditional dish.

But essentially, the recipe is made up of ground peanuts (or peanut butter) with tomato paste and spices. The authentic name for peanut soup is granat soup. Granat is the krio term for groundnut – aka peanuts. While it's common practice to grind the nuts for making the recipe, any peanut butter you buy works well here.

Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe (Wolof, mafé, maffé, maffe), sauce d'arachide (French) or tigadèguèna is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa. While maafe is a dish from Senegal, tigadéguéna originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.

In many parts of Africa, peanuts are usually known as groundnuts because the nut pods grow underground. Peanuts play an important nutritional role in many parts of Africa since they have good fats and contain 7 grams of protein which helps combat child malnutrition.

Goober originates among the Bantu languages and is akin to the word meaning "peanut" in the Kongo and Kimbundu languages, n-guba.

It consists of starchy foods—such as cassava, yams, or plantains—that have been boiled, pounded, and rounded into balls; the pounding process, which typically involves a mortar and pestle, can be laborious. Fufu is often dipped into sauces or eaten with stews of meat, fish, or vegetables.

The mixture of healthful fats, macronutrients, vitamins and minerals in peanuts means they provide nutritional benefits and make you feel fuller for longer.

It's a healthy pick. Tom yum has fewer than 100 calories per cup. It also has shrimp, veggies, and fragrant spices, such as lemongrass. Tom yum and other broth-based soups, like tofu-vegetable or wonton, are usually lower in fat and calories than soups made with coconut milk, such as tom kha.

"Fufu" (FOO-foo) is a West African dish that consists of starchy cassava, potato, or other root vegetables boiled, blended, and stirred until transformed into a thick ball of dough. Fufu is classified as a "swallow" food.

What is the best African soup to eat with fufu? ›

African Peanut Stew (Domoda)

The national dish of Gambia. A thick, saucy stew served over rice.

The origins of Louisiana gumbo can be traced to West Africa, during a time when enslaved Africans brought okra (or gombo as it is known in regional tongues) with them to the Caribbean and the US South, including where I'm from, the port city of New Orleans.

According to historian Miller, "the word Fufu literally means white in Twi." and is likely derived from the whitish colour of the cassava component in Ghanaian fufu. In Ghana, it is made out of pieces of boiled cassava and/or other tubers such as plantain or cocoyam.

The peanut [which originated in Bolivia] had been grown in West Africa for hundreds of years—though not on any grand scale. Our best guess is that Portuguese explorers and merchants brought it there. And the Portuguese were already exploring [and extracting resources from] Senegal in the mid-15th century.

In Africa. Before the Portuguese traders introduced cassava to Africa from Brazil in the 16th century, fufu was mainly made from cocoyam, plantain and yams. The traditional method of eating fufu is to pinch some of the fufu off in one's right hand fingers and form it into an easily ingested round ball.

A “potjiekos” (meaning “small pot food”) is a meal cooked in a cast-iron pot known as a “potjie” (pronounced “poi-kee”), but most South Africans refer to the dish itself as a potjie too. It usually consists of meat and veg and is prepared outdoors and cooked slowly over an open fire.