Traditional Ghanaian groundnut soup: nkatenkwan with chicken, peanut paste, tomato and ginger, with fufu

In Ghana, soup is not a starter: it is the main course, and fufu is what you dip into it. Groundnut soup, nkatenkwan in Twi, is the most famous in the country, especially in the Ashanti region of Kumasi, where peanuts have been grown since they arrived from the Americas in the 16th century and became a foundation of the cuisine.

The soup is made with natural peanut paste, unsweetened, diluted in the chicken broth and cooked with a blended sauce of tomato, onion, ginger and chili, until it thickens into a dark orange cream with the peanut oil shining on the surface. Garden eggs (the Ghanaian eggplant), okra and mushrooms go into many versions, and smoked fish into others.

Traditional fufu is made by pounding boiled cassava and plantain in a mortar until it becomes a smooth, stretchy mass; at home, well-beaten cassava mash comes close, and rice is the everyday alternative. It is eaten with the right hand, taking a piece of fufu and dipping it in the soup without much chewing.

Recipe card

• Origin: Ghana, Ashanti region
• Category: Soup, main course
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 25 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Serves: 6

Ingredients — soup

• 1.2 kg chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks and bone-in breast)
• 1 large onion, half chopped and half in chunks
• 1 piece of ginger, 4 cm
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 to 2 fresh red chilies or habaneros (to taste)
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup natural peanut paste (peanuts only, no sugar)
• 1.5 liters water
• 2 garden eggs or 1 small eggplant in pieces (optional)
• 8 whole okra (optional)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube or salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon anise or coriander seeds (optional)

Ingredients — quick fufu

• 800 g peeled cassava in pieces
• 2 green plantains, peeled and in pieces
• Salt
• Water

Method

1. Put the chicken in a pot with the chopped onion, half the ginger grated, salt and 1 cup water and cook covered on medium for 15 minutes, in its own steam.
2. Blend the tomatoes, the other half of the onion, the remaining ginger, garlic and chili until smooth.
3. Add the tomato mixture and the tomato paste to the chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Dissolve the peanut paste in 2 cups of warm water, stirring until creamy, and pour into the pot with the rest of the water.
5. Cook on low, half-covered, for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick, until the soup thickens and the peanut oil appears on the surface.
6. Add the garden eggs and okra in the last 15 minutes. Adjust the salt.
7. For the fufu, boil the cassava and plantain in salted water for 25 minutes, until very soft. Drain, mash and process (or pound in a mortar) until it becomes a smooth, stretchy mass. Shape into balls with wet hands.
8. Serve the soup in deep bowls with a piece of chicken and the fufu beside or inside.

Tips and variations

• The peanut paste must be pure; sweetened ones ruin the soup. Blend unsalted roasted peanuts in a processor until they become a paste, if you cannot find it.
• Smoked fish or goat meat are traditional versions.
• Stirring often is essential: peanut sticks and burns at the bottom.
• Thin soup? Cook longer uncovered. Too thick? Add hot water.
• Omo tuo, balls of mashed rice, is the other classic accompaniment for groundnut soup.
• Freezes well for 3 months.
• A little cumin and anise are the seasoning of some Kumasi families.

Groundnut soup with fufu is Ghana's Sunday dish: creamy, hot, slightly spicy, eaten by hand and without hurry. Make a big pot.