Coconut Milk Peanut Sauce Matoke

My aunt came home from Maragoli with the largest ever mgomba wa matoke I have ever seen. I was so happy since I love how matoke from the western parts of the county taste like, and I embarked on making matoke every other day of that week. I made them just as my mom does, then razed through the recipes I has earlier made for the blog and once I was done, I decided to get my creative juices flowing and create something totally new. As I was brainstorming, I realized I have never made peanut sauce matoke. Memories of a not so pleasant one I tried at an acquaintances home came flooding back into my head. That was the reason I was so wary of than combination. Since I always say everything in this world can be made delicious, I decided to get over my silly fear, do some testing of my own and develop flavors that would work for me , and those that you too, would enjoy!That being said, today I have for you my glorious coconut milk peanut sauce which you will fall head over heels inlove with!!

Do check out the video here:

PREP TIME: 15min COOK TIME: 30 min SERVES: 2

Ingredients

8 medium sized matoke

1 tomato

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

½ dried thyme

1 teaspoon of garlic spice

½ a teaspoon of ginger spice

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 cup of coconut milk

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

In your sufuria, add the red onions, dania stems and thyme. I have mentioned a couple of times on Twitter that dania stems make an excellent ingredient for the base ingredient while the leaves are good as a garnish. So do not be discarding the stems. They pack a punch of flavor! Try this out and you will see I ain’t joking when I say that love!

Sautee this for a few minutes then add the tomatoes, salt, followed by the garlic and ginger powder, cumin and turmeric. You can use fresh ginger/garlic/turmeric; I only reached out for the spices because I felt kinda lazy to prepare the fresh ones :D. Let this simmer for few minutes then add the star ingredient for this dish: peanut butter.

Ideally peanut sauce matoke is made with peanut sauce that has been made form scratch as our neighbors in Uganda do, but using peanut butter is a much welcome shortcut. For this recipe, I decided to use two tablespoons, but you can always adjust it upwards to suit your personal preference. I would advice you to start with a small quantity, taste with each addition then adjust upwards if necessary.

Thereafter, add some hot water/stock, bit by bit until your sauce is nice, thick and viscous. Aki please do not create a river Nile at this stage since you will ruin everything!! In case you need guidance on this, today’s video shows you exactly how to go about this and the exact consistency you should have after you mix it in. Once done, It should look like this:

Simmer this for about 5 minutes until thickened then add your peeled and chopped matoke. I like cutting mine really small so that they do not overwhelm while eating and also to expose plenty of surface area for the gorgeous flavors to seep in to.

Is matoke the same thing as plantain? No. They are in the same family, but are different both in flavor, texture and shape. I have explained that in the video, together with how to prevent oxidation of your matoke right after you peel them. Here is the link.

Mix it in and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Instead of allowing the matoke to cook through in water, we go a step further and let it stew in some coconut milk. These flavors get absorbed into the matoke making the end result much richer, much fuller.

Pour in your coconut milk, then allow this to cook for about 20 minutes or until the matoke is completely soft and cooked through. You can verify this by poking them with a fork and if it passes through with ease, your food is done!

Once done, garnish with finely chopped dania and dig right in!!!

If there is one matoke recipe you have to try out,it has to be my coconut milk peanut sauce matoke!!! It is really rich, but not in an overwhelming way. The coconut milk and the peanut really enhance d both the flavor profile and thickness of the dish. The warmth of the ginger and garlic and the herbiness of the thyme cut through the sauciness of the stew and brings a much welcome balance to the full flavor of this dish. Indeed, must try for everyone!!!