West African chicken and sweet potato curry

Ingredients

• 150g smooth peanut butter
• 2 onions, 1 diced
• 50g after peeling ginger
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli, halved lengthways and seeded
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 400g can coconut milk
• 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
• 8 chicken thighs, skinned
• 500g sweet potatoes, halved lengthways and cut into chunks

TO SERVE

• a good handful coriander, most chopped
• 1 red chilli, seeded and finely sliced
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, chopped just a few times
• cooked rice
• a few wedges lime

Description

• STEP 1

  Put the peanut butter into a bowl, add 400ml boiling water and mix until smooth.

• STEP 2

  Put the roughly chopped onion, ginger, spices and scotch bonnet chilli into a food processor or blender, and whizz to a smooth paste – if it’s too dry, add some of the peanut water. Heat a large pan, add the diced onion and oil, and fry until soft. Stir in the paste with ½ tsp white or black pepper and fry for a few minutes more until fragrant.

• STEP 3

  Add the coconut milk and peanut water, followed by the chicken stock cube and chicken thighs. Put the lid on and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom.

• STEP 4

  Add the sweet potato and, leaving the lid off the pan, cook for 15 minutes if freezing or 20 minutes if eating straight away. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water. Season well.

• STEP 5

  To serve, scatter the rest of the coriander, fresh chilli and chopped peanuts over the top. Serve with rice and lime wedges.