I had this soup for the first time in 1993, while I was in boarding school in Abuja. Our school cook ‘Uncle Peter’ would make it with Tuwo Masara for us on Thursday afternoons. I was part of the people who would leave our bowls with him after breakfast only to return after classes to pick them up loaded with food LOL. On Thursdays, I would gladly pick up my 555 Stainless Steel bowl from the Kitchen with a small mound of Tuwo but a generous amount of ground nut soup and head to the dining hall to eat my lunch with the others.
Since that time I have often wondered about it and asked my mum to make it repeatedly for us but she isn’t a big fan of ground nuts, she would say it gives pimples and we shouldn’t be eating it.
Years passed and I would still crave certain things from the past, Ground Nut Soup included. I asked a friend a few years ago and she made it for me when I visited her and also gave me her recipe.
I’ve cooked it loads of times since and tweaked it to suit how I like it. I’ve used different kinds of Protein from Chicken to Assorted Meats and it tasted delicious each time. I would suggest that you use a choice of meats that have bones and season them very well so that you get a rich broth to cook the soup with.
Groundnut Soup is deeply flavorful and can be made as spicy as one can tolerate. It can be served with any swallow of your choice and can also be enjoyed with Rice.
You have the option of Peanut Butter, which is much more straight forward than pounding your nuts into a paste or even using a food processor. The results are pretty much the same.
Do try this out and Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 Cup Roasted Groundnuts or 3 Tbsp Peanut Butter
11/2 Tbsp Palm Oil
300g Turkey
150g Oxtail
4 Small Fresh Pepper
1 Small Onions
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Thumbsize Ginger
3 Tbsp Crayfish
Handful Uziza
2 Stock Cubes
1 Tsp Salt
Directions
- Add cleaned turkey steaks into a pot, add some stock cubes, salt, some onions and a whole fresh pepper.
- Grate some ginger into the turkey, add in some water, cover the pot and let the turkey steam till its soft.
- Using a mortar and pestle, pound the peanuts till you get a smooth thick paste (this process can also be done in a food processor).
- when the turkey is soft, take the lid off the pot, take out very little turkey broth to mix the groundnut paste to form a thinner paste, then set aside.
- Add in oxtail to the turkey, then add a little water.
- Pour in very little Palm oil.
- Add in crayfish, some more salt and stock cubes.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- Add in whole fresh pepper to the broth (It will release its flavor slowly into the soup), cover the pot and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
- Add in groundnut paste a little at a time as it tends to thicken up as it boils. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in a handful of Uziza leaves and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes and your groundnut soup is ready.
- Enjoy!
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 50 Minutes
Serves: 4