West African Chicken Maafe
A pot of comfort where fiery green seasoning melts into a rich, velvety peanut sauce.
This West African-inspired chicken maafe starts with chicken thighs marinated in a vibrant blend of onion, garlic, coriander, green chilli, green pepper and black peppercorns. The chicken is browned, then simmered with sweet potato and carrots in a deeply savoury sauce of cooked-down green seasoning, tomato paste and creamy peanut butter. Rich, warming and gently spicy, it’s the kind of stew made for spooning generously over rice.
Before you start
Get your mise en place ready so nothing catches you out mid-cook.
Method
- 1
Make the Green Sauce
Add the roughly chopped onion, garlic, coriander, green chillies, green bell pepper and black peppercorns to a blender.
- 2
Blend until you have a fairly smooth green sauce, scraping down the sides as necessary. Avoid adding water unless your blender needs a small splash to get everything moving.
- 3
Divide the green sauce into two equal portions.
The rest of this recipe
There’s 7 more ingredients and 16 more steps to go.
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Ivana Sanshia’s note
Maafe, also written mafé, refers to a broad family of peanut or groundnut-based sauces and stews found across West Africa. Recipes vary considerably between countries, regions and households, so this is my version rather than a claim to one definitive preparation.
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