West African Chicken and Peanut Stew

Ingredients

• 6 / 1158 g Chicken thighs, meat and skin
• 2 / 260 g Sweet potatoes
• 1 medium Yellow onion
• 400 g Chopped tomatoes
• 4 cups Chicken stock
• 1 cup Peanut butter
• 1 cup Dry-roasted peanuts
• ¼ cup Fresh cilantro
• 1 Bird's-eye chili
• 3 Tbsp Fresh ginger
• 6 Garlic cloves

Method

1. Pat the thighs dry. Brown them in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until the skin is colored, then move them to the slow cooker. The post uses 6 bone-in thighs and does not list oil. The skin renders enough fat to brown them. The center finishes in the cooker. The post did not weigh the thighs. This version uses 1158 g of meat and skin, 193 g for each USDA thigh. That weight does not include the bone.
2. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Dice the onion. Peel and chop the ginger and the garlic. Cook the onion in the same skillet until it starts to brown. Add the sweet potatoes, the ginger, and the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. The post uses 2 sweet potatoes, 1 yellow onion, a 3-inch piece of ginger, and 6 garlic cloves. The sweet potatoes were not weighed. This version uses 260 g, a USDA 5-inch sweet potato twice. The 3-inch piece of ginger is counted as 3 tablespoons grated.
3. Add the skillet vegetables to the cooker with the chopped tomatoes, the chicken stock, the peanut butter, the dry-roasted peanuts, the cilantro, and the chili. The post said a tin of chopped tomatoes and did not give a size. This version uses 400 g. The post said 4 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup of peanut butter, and 1 cup of dry-roasted nuts. The nuts are counted as unsalted dry-roasted peanuts. The handful of coriander leaves is counted as ¼ cup of cilantro. Stir so the peanut butter melts into the stock.
4. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6 hours. The chicken should be cooked through, with no pink at the bone. A thick piece near the bone should reach 165°F / 74°C. If it is still pink, give it more time.
5. Lift out the thighs. Pull the meat off the bones, discard the bones, and shred the meat back into the pot. The post did not give a yield. Six bowls is the cut used here, one thigh in each bowl with the sweet potato and the sauce. The post did not list salt. Salt at the table is not in the count. Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for a few days. Reheat until the chicken is hot in the center again.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. Counted as 1 of 6 bowls: the chicken thighs, the sweet potatoes, one medium yellow onion, the chopped tomatoes, the chicken stock, the peanut butter, the dry-roasted peanuts, the cilantro, the bird's-eye chili, the ginger, and the garlic. The post did not give a yield. Six bowls is the cut used here. The post said 6 chicken thighs on the bone and did not weigh them. One USDA thigh, meat and skin, is 193 g, so 6 are 1158 g. That weight does not include the bone. The post said 2 sweet potatoes and did not weigh them. A USDA sweet potato about 5 inches long is 130 g, so two are 260 g. The onion is a USDA medium, 110 g. The post said a tin of chopped tomatoes and did not give a size. This version uses 400 g. The USDA can portion is 190 g and is not that tin. The written 400 g is used. The stock is 4 cups. A cup of ready-to-serve chicken broth is 249 g, so 4 cups is 996 g. The post said chicken stock. The peanut butter is 1 cup, 258 g. The peanuts are 1 cup, 146 g. The post said dry roasted nuts. This count uses unsalted dry-roasted peanuts. The handful of coriander is ¼ cup of cilantro leaves, 4 g. The bird's-eye chili is counted as one USDA hot red chili pepper, 45 g, which is larger than a bird's-eye, so that line runs high. The ginger is 3 Tbsp. A teaspoon of raw ginger is 2 g, so a tablespoon is 6 g and 3 Tbsp is 18 g. The post said a 3-inch piece. The garlic is 6 cloves at 3 g each, so 18 g. Added sugars are 0. About 11 g of sugars per bowl sit in the sweet potato, the onion, the tomatoes, the peanut butter, and the peanuts. The stock is the salty part. The post did not list salt.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Dairy-free

  The pot is chicken, sweet potato, onion, tomatoes, stock, peanut butter, peanuts, cilantro, chili, ginger, and garlic. It has no milk and no butter. It is already dairy-free as written. Read the peanut butter and the stock. This is a kitchen note, not a dairy-free certification.

  • United States: There is no milk or butter in the pot. It is already dairy-free as written. Read the peanut butter jar.
  • United Kingdom: The same note. This stew does not call for dairy.

• Gluten-free style

  The chicken, sweet potato, vegetables, peanut butter, and peanuts do not call for wheat. Wheat, when it shows up, is in the chicken stock. Use stock whose carton does not list wheat. Read the peanut butter. This is a kitchen note, not a gluten-free certification.

  • United States: Stock whose carton does not list wheat. The peanut butter and the peanuts stay.
  • United Kingdom: Stock marked gluten free. The peanuts are still in the bowl.

• No peanuts

  This stew is built on peanut butter and peanuts. It is not written without them. A different nut butter would be a different pot.

  • United States: This stew is peanut butter and peanuts. It is not written without them.
  • United Kingdom: The same note. A different nut butter would be a different pot.