Caribbean Peanut Stew

It's been raining heavily here in Mysore for a few days now which makes a few things tough, it's hard to tell when we can venture out on the scooter, we don't know when to do laundry in order to have it dry outside, and we don't know what we are going to want to eat!

Maybe we should have a reading with the astrologer to get advance notice on when the rains will come and when we can do our laundry?

When you cook every day the main thing is the preparation the day before. Being organised is more than half the key to eating well, but changeable weather makes it really hard to plan what you want. We’ve been playing a guessing game recently and toady's dish just kind of covered all eventualities; the spices being good for cooling down and stimulating the appetite on a hot day, but the heavy stewy nature of the dish warming and nurturing enough for  a lunch during a loud thunderstorm!



Caribbean Peanut Stew

2 tbs Olive Oil

2 branches of celery (chopped fine)

½ carrot  (chopped fine)

½ tbs (minced) fresh ginger

2 seed green chilies (minced)

1 tbs tomato puree

2 tbs chopped parsley leaf

2 tomatoes (seeded and cored)

1 tsp cumin (ground)

2 tsp coriander (ground)

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups squash (chopped into 1” pieces)

1 cup tofu (chopped into 1” pieces)

2 tbs peanut butter

2 cups stock/water

1 cup black eye peas (cooked)

salt to taste

fresh parsley/coriander to garnish

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan,  add the celery and carrot. Saute until they begin to soften, then add the ginger and chillies and continue heating, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes more.
2. Add the tomato puree and a tbs of the stock/water an stir for a minute until cooked a little. Add the herbs and the chopped fresh tomato and saute on medium low until the juice from the tomato has evaporated – another five minutes roughly.
3. Add the tofu, squash, peanut butter and stock and simmer for another 30 minutes partially covered. Add more liquid if you want it more soupy. Add the salt and garnish with fresh herbs.