Since so many people have asked me how to make West African spicy peanut sauce, I thought I would share the recipe here. Please note that I don’t typically measure my ingredients when I cook, so these measurements are approximate. This will make about four servings over rice.

Ingredients:
3 cups of diced fresh tomatoes or a quart of canned tomatoes with the liquid drained or 8 oz. of tomato paste.
A small handful of leafy greens or other veggies
¼ of a large onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)
A pinch of ground ginger (this will make it spicy, so add more or less to taste)
Salt and seasoned salt to taste
Red chili powder or fresh habanero chilies to taste.
4 tablespoons of peanut butter, preferably natural-style without sugar. You may choose smooth or chunky.
If you want the sauce to be creamier, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil
A pinch of baking soda to cut the acidity (caution: it will foam up)
Gluten chunks, veggie meat, etc. (optional)

Directions:
Blend the tomatoes (if they aren’t already) and bring them to a boil in a sauce pan with the minced onion and optional garlic.
Finely chop some leafy greens or any other veggies you want to use. Saute them in a separate pan until they are done.
Add the ginger, salt and chili powder or chilies to the sauce. When I use fresh chilies, I like to leave them whole so people can choose to avoid them for less spiciness or mash them for more spiciness.
Add the baking soda and optional oil.
Stir the peanut butter into the boiling sauce until it is well mixed and creamy. Keep stirring to prevent it from burning on the bottom.
Stir in the cooked veggies and optional veggie meat.

Bon Appetit!

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