Serves     4

Ingredients

For the stew:

2 tbsp. oil (palm oil or peanut oil if you have it) (Learn about buying sustainably produced palm oil at www.cmzoo.org/palmoil)

½ medium onion, (½ sliced, ½ chopped)

2 roma tomatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)

1 cup roasted peanuts

3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 habanero chile*

4 sprigs cilantro

½ inch piece ginger, roughly chopped

Lime wedges for garnish

Cilantro for garnish

 

For the tofu:

1 block of extra-firm tofu

1 tbsp. oil

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder, or garlic salt (reduce regular salt instead)

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. chili powder

Directions

For the tofu:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the tofu from the packaging and slice horizontally. Place the tofu on paper towels or a tea towel, with more towels on top and weigh it down with a heavy pan. Let tofu stand this way for about 30 minutes. This will help drain excess moisture and ensure a crisper product.

Dice the tofu into 1-inch cubes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle the tofu with the oil and all the spices and mix thoroughly right on the baking sheet. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, remove and set aside.

 

For the sauce:

While the tofu is baking, heat the oil in a large sauté pan, add the sliced onions. Sauté for about 2 minutes, until the onions become transparent. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down.

In a blender container add the peanuts, remaining diced onion, garlic, habanero chile, cilantro and ginger, along with ½ cup of water. Blend to a smooth paste. *Note: if you’re concerned about the heat of the chile, you could just pierce the chile and put it into the sauté pan whole, then fish out when the sauce is ready.

Pour the contents of the blender into the sauté pan and add 2 cups of water, bring to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat, until foam clears, stir occasionally. Arrange baked tofu on top.

Serve over rice.

Country:
Benin


Notes and Instructions

Recipe contribution by Linda McElroy, adapted from: https://afrovitalityeats.com/recipe/african-peanut-stew-with-tofu/

Photo credit with permission from Elise, from www.afrovitalityeats.com