Maafé Food

MAAFE (SENEGALESE PEANUT STEW)

Steps:

• Season chicken or beef with all the marinating ingredients and marinate at least 30 minutes to a few hours.
• Heat 3 Tbsp oil over medium high heat in a skillet and sear meat 4-5 minutes per side, till it gets a nice brown color. Plate it out.
• If needed, add remaining 1 Tbsp oil. Add in chopped onion and sauté till it turns golden brown in color, scraping any brown bit from the bottom of the pan into the mixture.
• Add in minced ginger, garlic and jalapeño. Cook for a minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook for a minute. Add in tomato sauce along with salt, paprika, red chili flakes. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in chicken broth and mix well. Add meat back to the pot along with carrots. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Add in peanut butter and stir well till it melts and combines well with the sauce. Cover and cook till meat is tender, about 45 minutes for chicken or about 1-1.5 hours for beef, depending on the cut. In the last half an hour of cook time, add in bell peppers. Taste and adjust for salt.
• Serve and garnish with chopped cilantro and peanuts.
• Season and marinate the meat with salt, pepper, paprika, chopped ginger and garlic. Heat the instant pot using SAUTE mode and once oil is hot, sear the meat pieces till they are little brown, 4-5 minutes per side. Plate them out.
• Add chopped onions to the pressure cooker and sauté, stirring up brown stickings from the bottom. Cook till onion is golden brown.
• Add in chopped ginger, garlic and jalapeno and cook for a minute. Add in tomato paste and cook for a minute. Stir in tomato sauce along with paprika, red chili flakes and salt. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in chicken broth. Add in peanut butter and stir well till it is dissolved. Add meat along with carrots and bell peppers. Mix well. Close the lid and pressure cook on HIGH for 5 minutes for chicken and 35 minutes for beef. In the case of beef, add in bell peppers later, as they can turn to mush, or skip them altogether.
• Release pressure using the natural release method according to manufacturer's instructions, 10-20 or 10 minutes. Select CANCEL and open the lid. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
• Season and marinate the meat with salt, pepper, paprika, chopped ginger and garlic.
• You can directly put the meat in the crock pot, or take the extra step to brown it first in an oiled pan searing 4-5 minutes per side. After browning, place it in the crock pot.
• Sauté onions till golden brown along with ginger, garlic and jalapeno. Add this mixture over the meat. In a bowl, stir together tomato paste, tomato sauce, paprika, red chili flakes, chicken broth, peanut butter and salt. Pour this mixture over the meat and mix everything well.
• Add in carrots or any other root vegetables you want. Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 7-8 on low for chicken. If using beef, cook 5-6 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low. Towards the last one and half hour you can add in bell peppers. Taste for seasoning and garnish with cilantro and peanuts.

CHICKEN MAFE

Steps:

• Finely mince 6 cloves garlic and the ginger with a pinch of salt, plenty of black pepper and crushed red-pepper flakes to taste. Season chicken all over with salt, and rub with the garlic mixture. Marinate for three hours or overnight, refrigerated.
• Finely chop the remaining 6 cloves of garlic. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the onion, chopped garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the onion is starting to become translucent. Stir in the fish sauce, then the tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the paste and onions have combined and are a shade darker. Stir in 6 cups water, scraping up any browned bits.
• Add the chicken, bring to a boil and turn heat down to a moderate simmer. In a mixing bowl, stir a cup of the cooking liquid into the peanut butter, a splash at a time, to loosen it. Pour the peanut butter mixture into the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and carrots, and simmer 10 minutes. Peel and cut the sweet potato and waxy potatoes into 1 1/2-inch chunks, add them and simmer 30 minutes, until the vegetables and chicken are tender and the sauce is like a very thick gravy. (The oil will be separating in the sauce.) If the chicken and vegetables are tender but the sauce is still a little loose, remove them, and let the sauce cook down. Add the chile if using. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and serve over white rice.