Mafé

A recent chat about things people love over at the Red & Anarchist Black Metal forum led to someone (thanks Starcide) sending me this delicious recipe. Mafé, or peanut stew, is a traditional dish eaten by the Wolof people of Senegal and Gambia. They have no hesitation in adding chunks of dead stuff to theirs, but it's simply a matter of replacing that bit with life-friendly ingredients to make it suitably vegan. I used tofu, but a tin of beans is equally as good.

This is a substantial dish and will easily serve four with some rice, bulghur wheat, couscous etc., and salad.

• 125ml veg oil
• 250g firm tofu, drained and marinated (I used shoyu and vegan Worcestershire sauce) or a 400g tin of beans (kidney are good)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 225g peanut butter (no added sugar)
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes (I liquidise mine)
• 2 tbs tomato pureé
• 1 fresh red jalopeño chilli (left whole for mild heat or, as I prefer, finely sliced for a bit more punch)
• 300g (chopped and) cooked veg e.g. carrot, potato, squash, aubergine (I used a mix of carrot, sweetcorn and mushroom)
• 250ml light stock / water (use any leftover veg cooking water)
• Juice of 1/2 a lime (optional)
• Shredded fresh herb (e.g. basil, coriander, parsley) to garnish (optional)

Heat the oil, preferably in a large pot, and fry the tofu (if using) over a medium-high heat first. Remove when nicely browned, then add the onion to the same oil. Once it begins to soften, add the red pepper, chilli and any other fryable veg (such as mushroom) and fry for a few minutes more. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the tomatoes and tomato pureé, bring to a simmer then add the peanut butter, lime juice if using and enough stock to make a thickish sauce. Simmer again for a few minutes, then add the tofu / drained  beans and the rest of the veg. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes or so, stirring regularly and adding more stock / water if needed.

Serve over whatever carb you've chosen, sprinkle on the herbs, give it a grind of pepper and scoff.