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Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Peanut stew West African style

This very easy stew will keep everyone happy. It has plenty of flavour and is suitable for gluten free or vegan family members too.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine west african
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

Vegetables

  • 250 gm onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 Kg sweet potato peeled and chopped into 1 cm chunks
  • 400 gm chopped tomatoes 1 tin
  • 400 gm chickpeas and water 1 tin plus the water
  • 250 gm spinach frozen or 100 gm fresh
  • 100 ml oil vegatable or olive

Spices

  • 2 tablespoon cumin ground
  • 1 teaspoon coriander ground
  • 1 teaspoon cardomom ground
  • 1 teaspoon turnmeric ground
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 each vegetable stock cubes gluten free, msg free
  • 200 gm peanut butter crunchy or smooth

Liquids

  • 400 ml coconut milk 1 tin
  • 250 ml water
  • 50 ml lemon juice 1/4 cup

Instructions
 

  • Peel and cut the sweet potato into bite sized chunks. Dice the onion and crush the garlic
  • Heat a large saucepan and add 100 ml oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook till softened but not coloured. Add the spices and stir on a low heat till fragrant. Add the sweet potato and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the 400 ml ( 1 can) chopped tomatoes, the chickpeas (water and all) the extra water (250ml) mixed with the peanut butter, coconut milk, and crumbled stock cubes. Stir well to combine.
  • Leave to simmer on low until the sweet potato is just tender when pierced with a fork ( do not overcook)
  • When the potatoes are tender add the frozen spinach and turn the stew to very low. When the spinach is defrosted stir into the stew add the lemon juice and stir well and serve immediately

Notes

If you have trouble finding canned tomatoes use 200ml tomato juice and 250 gm chopped fresh tomatoes. Alternatively use 400 ml of passata
The frozen spinach is added here as it is very convenient. i always kee a packet in the freezer. The spinach in the recipe is a whole packet of chopped frozen spinach (Aldi) You can replace the frozen spinach with 100 gm of fresh spinach added right at the last minute
If you have no chickpeas use white beans or even lentils
Don't overcook sweet potato. make sure it is just cooked through. you don't want it to break up and mash. 
You could add other vegetables to this stew too. Vegatables like celery (added at the start with the onion, red capsicum, peas, broccoli or pumpkin. 
Keyword comfort food, stew, vegan