NKATEKWAN (GROUNDNUT SOUP) AND OMOTUO (RICE BALLS)

This is one of my favorite soups in the entire world. It is very healthy and delicious. It is simple to make and can be served with so many accompaniments such as fufu, banku, rice or rice balls, and many more. Today, I write about serving this soup with rice balls, which is one of the game-changing meals in Ghana.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (454g) goat stew meat, cut into 2- to 3-inch cubes or any meat of choice (I prefer goat or chicken meat)

• 2 medium yellow onions (about 12 ounces; 340g), halved and ends cut, divided

• 3 cups (720ml) homemade and store-bought low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed, divided

• 5 medium cloves of garlic

• 1 ounce (28g) fresh diced ginger

• 2 teaspoons tomato paste

• 1 hot chili pepper, such as bird's eye, habanero, or Scotch bonnet (see note)

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (9 ounces; 255g)

• 1 (28-ounce; 794g) can of plum tomatoes

• 1 whole smoke-dried fish, such as tilapia (see note)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Hot cooked white riceball to serve (see note)

Methods

Groundnut soup Recipe

1. Rinse goat meat under cold running water, squeezing it to expel blood and remove any unwanted fat.

2. Blender to purée the 2 onion halves, 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 ounce ginger, and fresh tomatoes. In a saucepan; combine cubed goat meat with the purée over medium-low heat. When purée begins to simmer, cover the saucepan and reduce heat to low.

3. Simmer the meat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add another 1/2 cup (120ml) chicken stock if the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the pot.

4. Add remaining 1/2 ounce ginger and 2 cloves garlic, along with hot pepper and bay leaves. Return cover to saucepan, reduce heat to low and cook until halved onion is soft and translucent, about 20 minutes.

5. On another stove mix peanut butter with tomato paste in another saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring until all the oil comes out on the surface of the peanut mixture. You can pour the oil into another bowl if you don’t want too much oil in your soup.

6. Transfer halved onion, ginger, garlic cloves, and pepper to a blender. Add peanut butter mixture, canned tomatoes, and their juices, and remaining 2 cups (480ml) chicken stock and purée until smooth. Pass the blended mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the saucepan, stirring to incorporate, and bring to a simmer and cover it to boil.

7. Cook while stirring occasionally and adding chicken stock if the mixture reduces by more than one-third until the goat is tender and oils have surfaced, approximately 4 hours. Remove from saucepan. Add whole smoked fish, reduce heat to low, and cook an additional 5 minutes. (If omitting the fish, you can skip this 5-minute covered-cooking step.)

8. If the soup is still thick you can add a little water.

9. Remove and discard smoked fish and bay leaves, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot over white rice or fufu.

Rice Balls Recipe

• 1 cup rice

• 3-4 cups of water or as required

• salt as required

Instructions

1. Rinse rice and put it in a medium cooking pot. Add water and salt to taste.

2. Put rice on high heat and bring it to the ball. When rice boils over, reduce heat to medium and let cook till all water is absorbed and very soft when pressed between your fingers. Turn off the heat.

3. With the rice in the cooking pot, use a wooden ladle to beat or mash the rice against the sides of the pot for it to be glutinous. Divide the glutinous rice into balls according to the required serving. Serve with soup of choice preferably groundnut soup.