Nkatenkwan
Overview
Nkatenkwan is Ghana's peanut soup, and it is one of the country's most recognised dishes. Chicken is simmered with whole onions, tomatoes, ginger and kpakpo shito peppers, the softened vegetables are blended back into the broth, and a separately prepared peanut sauce is stirred through and simmered until the peanut oil rises to the surface. Peanuts are not indigenous to Africa. They originated in South America and were brought to the continent by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, arriving possibly through Senegambia or through the Angola and Congo regions, and they spread from there into cooking across West, East, Southern and Central Africa. Before they arrived, Bambara beans filled a similar role, and dishes built on Bambara beans still exist alongside their peanut equivalents. Why peanuts displaced them so thoroughly is not settled. In Ghana the soup is credited to the Hausa and eaten across the whole country. It is almost always served with omo tuo, the rice balls, and it works with any fufu. Whole okra pods go in at the end as a garnish. It sits within a wide West African family of peanut soups and stews that includes maafe, domoda and tigadèguèna, all of which are made rather differently.
AFN Heritage Note
Nkatenkwan is a Ghanaian peanut soup credited to the Hausa and eaten nationally. Peanuts reached Africa from South America through Portuguese trade in the 16th century, in many dishes displacing the indigenous Bambara bean.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Place the chicken pieces into a pot. Cut the top and bottom off the onions and add them whole.
- 2
Add the tomatoes whole, with the core tips removed, and add the garlic and ginger either grated or whole.
- 3
Add the bay leaves, kpakpo shito and chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the chicken is tender.
- 4While the soup simmers, prepare the peanut sauce
put the peanut butter into a pot and mix it with half a cup of water so it loosens before the rest goes in.
- 5
Place the peanut sauce over high heat and add the remaining water. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until peanut oil rises to the surface.
- 6
When the onions and tomatoes are soft, lift them from the broth into a blender. Add some of the kpakpo shito if you want it very spicy. Blend, then pour back into the soup and stir. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- 7
Pour the peanut sauce into the soup and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 8
Cut the heads and tails off the okra, boil them briefly and add them as a garnish.
- 9
Check the seasoning, adding salt and chilli powder if needed, and serve with fufu or omo tuo.
Africook’s Notes
- Loosen the peanut butter with a little water before adding the rest. Tipped straight into liquid it clumps and never fully disperses.
- Simmer the peanut sauce until the oil rises to the surface. That separation is the sign it is properly cooked, and it is what stops the finished soup tasting raw and pasty.
- Add the onions and tomatoes whole and blend them later. It is easier than chopping and it keeps the broth clear while they cook.
- Use unsweetened peanut butter with no added oil. Sweetened or stabilised versions change the flavour and behave differently in the pot.
- Boil the okra separately and briefly. It goes in as a garnish and is not meant to break down into the soup.
- This soup is peanut based throughout and is not safe for anyone with a peanut allergy.
Reviews
4 reviews
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We make groundnut soup in Tanzania as well, but boiling the onions and tomatoes whole in the stock before blending is a technique I had not tried before. I used halal chicken from the butcher near the mosque. Waiting for the red peanut oil to rise to the top of the paste took a bit longer on my stove, about 25 minutes, but the outcome was very gentle and rich. Asante.
Had to trek to the local Afro-Caribbean market to track down fresh okra and proper kpakpo shito peppers for this. Made sure to buy 100% smooth peanut butter with no added sugar or palm oil. The flavour of the broth after the bay leaves and bone-in chicken simmered together was brilliant, though my chicken took closer to 50 minutes to get completely tender.
i couldnt find kpakpo shito peppers anywhere in nashville so I used one small scotch bonnet instead. Was a bit confused by putting whole tomatoes and onions into the stock at first but trust the process! My kids picked around the whole okra pods but my husband and I loved how rich it got once the peanut butter released its oil.
Ah this Ghanaian style groundnut soup e sweet no be small thing o! Simmering the peanut paste separately until the oil floats to the top is the absolute key, my mother taught me same thing for ours in Nigeria. I used 4 scotch bonnets because we like heat. Cleaned the pot with tuwo shinkafa!