With help from Nana Aba’s mom in Ghana, we made this classic, comforting soup– perfect for Sunday night dinner. You can add any kind of meat or vegetable to this soup; although goat, carrots and okra are the most popular additions. Nana Aba used carrots, and also added boiled eggs when the soup was done.
Peanut Butter (Groundnut) Soup:
2 cups peanut butter
8 cups water
Oil (palm, olive, or coconut)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp freshly peeled ginger, chopped
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, whole
3 medium tomatoes, diced (or 1 large can of tomatoes)
4 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 large carrot cut into large pieces (and okra if you want)
Boiled eggs (or chicken, goat, beef)
Combine peanut butter and water in a large pot and boil until the oil from the peanut butter comes to the surface. Approximately 30 minutes.
While the peanut butter and water are cooking, heat the oil in another large pot, and add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until they have a bit of colour, approximately 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and Scotch Bonnet pepper and cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat until the peanut butter and water mixture is ready (the oil from the peanut butter has come to the surface). Add the peanut butter and water mixture to the tomato mixture and boil for another 20 minutes or so. Add carrots and tomato paste and continue cooking on medium until carrots are cooked through. Remove Scotch Bonnet pepper, then season the soup with salt to taste.
Add boiled eggs now if using.
** If adding meat, brown meat first and then add to the soup when the peanut butter and water mixture are combined with the tomato mixture.
You can make this soup your own– you can make it spicier, less spicy, meat-heavy, meatless, whatever you’re craving!
Serve with rice or banku.
