A taste of Ghana

Recipes by maaryamakes
I’ve recently been lamenting my lack of creativity with a friend who tried her hardest to convince me otherwise. Following the aftermath of decluttering 14 years of hoarding and moving to a new home as well as city, my focus has been on establishing a healthier routine. Yes, I admit that does sound boring, but after reading ‘My Morning Routine’ by Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander, I realised that many creatives often work diligently (and successfully) within the framework of a daily rhythm. With the pandemic, intermittent lockdowns and home learning it hasn’t been quite so easy to lay this foundation, instead we’ve been a little more creative than usual with our dinners.
A worthy wee read!

Before I got married, I barely cooked. My foray into the kitchen was largely confined to baking especially as my Mum is a wonderful cook who would rarely hand over her apron. So my husband, with his penchant for international cuisine, was my first port of call when it came to cooking. Having visited Ghana in his gap year, my husband was keen to introduce me to West African food. It began with grilled plantain, now fondly known as “banana’s big brother” in our home. Then came Light soup accompanied with Fufu, a dumpling made of plantain or cassava. So I was really keen to make this Ghanaian dish called Nkate Nkwam I came across in the Guardian recently.

This rich chicken stew is made with smooth, unsweetened peanut butter. Its sauce is similar in texture to a traditional homemade Punjabi masala. Indeed, both share their ingredients of onions, ginger and garlic with the stew cooked slowly until its oils are released onto the surface. The recipe calls for whole prawns which we were out of, so we tweaked the recipe by using Sriracha Kallo stock, instead of the chicken stock, along with half a crumbled fish stock cube. We served it with boiled rice.

Surprisingly, the sauce didn’t taste strongly of peanuts, rather the stew tasted lightly nutty with a kick of heat from the habanero chilli. Admittedly, I did keep the chilli whole for fear the kids would complain it’s too spice. Alhumdulillah (praise be to God) all but one of the kids enjoyed it thoroughly and Nkate Nkwam now has it’s place in our family’s cookbook.

God willing your foray into Ghanaian food is as tasty as ours!

Nkate Nkwam


Adapted from Vanessa Bolosier’s Nkate Nkwam recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, jointed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 large thumb of fresh ginger, grated
  • 3 large ripe tomatoes
  • 1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper
  • 300g creamy, unsweetened peanut butter
  • 500ml Organic Sriracha Kallo stock
  • 4 tbsp tomato paste
  • 4-5 whole raw prawns or 1/2 cube of fish stock, crumbled
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Directions

  1. In a blender, puree the onions, garlic and ginger with 120ml of the stock. Joint the chicken, then heat the oil in a large pot and add the chicken pieces. When the chicken starts to brown, add the purée and stir to coat. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 mins. Add the remaining stock.
  2. Stir in the peanut butter a little at a time, ensuring it breaks down and is incorporated to avoid lumps. Purée the ripe tomatoes with the tomato paste and stir in.
  3. Cover and leave to simmer for 40 mins, stirring occasionally to avoid the peanut butter sticking. When the chicken is tender and there’s a layer of oil on the surface, add the prawns (or fish stock cube) and chilli, cover and simmer for five more minutes. Pierce the chilli for extra zing.
  4. It’s ready when the sauce has thickened and reduced by about a third. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot with plain rice.


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