African Peanut Stew

I first had this stew in a small vegetarian restaurant in Guelph, Ontario and it was love at first bite. This hardy dish combines the amazing flavour of peanut with pumpkin, potato, beans and ginger into a serious comfort food.   Although there are a lot of ingredients, this is an easy dish to create and can be cooked in under 20 minutes.  

For 6 servings

• 2 cups of pumpkin, cubed
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 1 cup green beans, chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 inch knob ginger, chopped
• 1 inch turmeric root, chopped
• ¼ cup roasted peanuts
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 can coconut milk 
• 1  cup miso stock, or vegetable / mushroom stock 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ cup sultana raisons 
• cilantro as garnish 

Method:

1. Boil the potato and pumpkin until soft.  Drain and set aside.  
2. Lightly sauté ginger, garlic, scallion, turmeric, and cumin in oil for 2 minutes, just enough time to let the flavours blend.  
3. Add potato, pumpkin, green beans, miso, coconut milk, cinnamon and peanut butter.  Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to make sure the peanut butter dissolves.   
4. Serve with rice or couscous with peanut, sultanas and cilantro as garnish.