Vegan African Peanut Soup Recipe - Delish Knowledge (2024)

FAQs

What is the origin of African peanut soup? ›

Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe (Wolof, mafé, maffé, maffe), sauce d'arachide (French) or tigadèguèna is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa. It originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.

This West African soup is about as different from a traditional European chicken-in-a-pot soup as you can get, flavored with ginger, garlic and chiles (sounds Chinese, yes?), and incorporating vegetables like sweet potatoes and kale. Then of course there are the peanuts.

Egusi Soup - popular in West Africa, the soup is made with ground melon seeds and leafy greens. It is often served with fufu or rice. Egusi Soup is a popular and delicious traditional Nigerian soup. It is a thick, flavorful soup made primarily from ground melon seeds and various other ingredients.

In many parts of Africa, peanuts are usually known as groundnuts because the nut pods grow underground.

Pour in all of the liquid-y stuff—crushed tomatoes, stock—along with the sweet potatoes, chickpeas and peanut butter. You're nearly there now! Just a quick simmer—about 15 minutes—to let the flavors cohere. Finish the soup with kale and chicken (if you're using it) and cook it just a bit more to wilt the kale.

The crushed peanuts and peanut butter in the soup combine to give it both crunch and creaminess — not to mention vitamins and minerals. Peanuts boast many qualities including protein, fiber, biotin, copper, niacin, folate, vitamin E, thiamine, phosphorus, magnesium and mono and polyunsaturated fat.

Fufu is a staple of West African cuisine you can easily serve with stews and soups to complete a delicious and satisfying meal. Traditionally made from cassava root and green plantains, it is a smooth, dense, soul-satisfying, and mild-flavored side dish that turns almost any dinner into finger food.

The soup takes its name from egusi, or agushi―the seeds that both thicken and flavor it. Egusi soup typically features meat (such as beef, smoked poultry, goat, cow skin, and offal) and seafood (smoked dried fish or stockfish), as well as awara (Nigerian tofu), mushrooms, and greens.

Who brought peanuts to Africa? ›

The peanut originated in Bolivia and was brought by conquistadors to Africa during the fifteenth century. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock. The sandy soil of West Africa was primed to farm peanuts. As the popularity of the legume increased, so did the need for labor.

When Africans were brought to North America as slaves, peanuts came with them. Slaves planted peanuts throughout the southern United States (the word goober comes from the Congo name for peanuts – nguba).

In Twi, fufu or fufuo means "mash or mix", a soft and doughy staple food. It is believed to originate in what is now modern-day Ghana, by the Asante, the Akuapem, the Akyem, the Bono and the Fante people of the Akan ethnic group of Ghana and now generally accepted across the country.

The dish reportedly originated in Ghana, where it is a staple. It is prepared in various ways. In Sierra Leone, for example, fufu is often made with fermented cassava.