Chicken African Stew

The first time I made this was for an African party that I was co-hosting at my home.  It was sort of a Peace Corp reunion, everyone brought food and the evening was wonderfully filled with culture and conversation.  Everyone loved my dish, maybe even the most, we should have had a contest!  Next time...
This may not be much to look at but it is one of my favorite things to eat.  I found the original recipe at allrecipes.com, I usually add 3 carrots, 2 to 3 sweet potatoes or Idaho potatoes depending on the size, I use chicken broth instead of water and quite a bit more than 1 cup depending on how many vegetables I am adding, then later if it is necessary I will add some water, I sometimes double the spices and add in different varieties of crushed pepper if I have it around because I like it extra spicy, i try to avoid frying anything with olive oil even at low temperatures so i use vegetable oil instead or i use chicken fat leftover from baking the whole bird, but to save myself time and energy I usually buy a whole rotisserie already prepared.  I serve this with brown rice or ugali.  When you serve it with rice and add in the veggies you can feed twice as many people.

African Chicken Stew

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 45 Minutes
Submitted By: Leah Shaw Cook Time: 35 Minutes Servings: 6
"Inspired by authentic West African cooking, this delicious stew combines vegetables and peanut butter with a little heat from a medley of spices. Alter the recipe to suit your preferences--it lends itself beautifully to improvisation."

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (3 pound) roasting chicken, deboned
and cut into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 large potato, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup unsalted natural-style peanut butter
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans,drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, and brown quickly. Remove chicken from pan. Reduce heat to medium low, and add garlic, onion and potato to the pan; saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with cumin, coriander, black pepper, red pepper and salt. Do not let garlic brown.

2. Mix in water and browned chicken, and any accumulated juices. Place lid on skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Remove lid, and stir in the peanut butter and garbanzo beans. Make sure the peanut butter is blended in. Replace lid to simmer for 10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, adjust seasoning, and serve.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 1/20/2011