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Vegetable mafé
Senegal's peanut and tomato stew (maafe, tigadèguèna) with sweet potato and cabbage
Mafé is the Sunday-lunch stew of Senegal and Mali: a rust-coloured sauce of roasted peanut paste and tomato, simmered until oil glistens on top and ladled over broken rice. In Dakar it usually carries lamb or beef; this version uses sweet potato, carrot, cabbage and okra, which soak up the sauce just as well. In Côte d'Ivoire the same idea is called sauce d'arachide and is eaten with rice or foutou; make it slightly thinner and add aubergine for the Abidjan style. Chef's tip: use plain, unsweetened peanut paste and cook it long enough that a thin layer of red oil rises to the surface; that is the sign the peanut has lost its raw taste.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the stew
To serve
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Warm 3 tbsp groundnut oil in a large heavy pot over a medium heat. Add 2 onions and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden at the edges.
Step 2: Stir in 4 cloves garlic and 3 tbsp tomato paste and fry for 2–3 minutes until the paste darkens to brick red and smells sweet rather than sharp. Add 3 tomatoes and cook until they collapse.
6 minStep 3: Put 7 oz smooth unsweetened peanut butter in a bowl and whisk in a ladle of 0.3 litre vegetable stock until smooth and loose. Pour it into the pot with the rest of 1 litre vegetable stock, 2 bay leaves and 1 scotch bonnet chilli, and stir well so no lumps stay at the bottom.
Step 4: Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer, half covered, for 20 minutes. Stir from the bottom every few minutes; peanut sauce catches easily. Common mistake: boiling it hard, which scorches the base and makes the sauce bitter.
20 minStep 5: Add 14 oz sweet potato, 2 carrots and ¼ white cabbage, pushing them under the sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes.
15 minStep 6: Add 8 okra, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper and cook for 10 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender to a knife and a film of reddish oil floats on top. If it gets too thick, loosen with a splash of hot water; it should coat a spoon like double cream.
10 minStep 7: Lift out the chilli and bay leaves (or burst the chilli for more heat). Spoon the stew over 1 ⅓ lb cooked broken rice with 4 lime wedges on the side.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 62 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 10 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vegetable mafé take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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