African Peanut Soup | Creamy Bell pepper and Peanut butter soup

I do not for a minute find peanut butter in a soup strange. I adore peanut butter like many of them adore Nutella. Peanut butter was one of the few things I enjoyed during my pregnant days without having to run over to the toilet. This peanut soup has a generous dose of peanut butter along with beautiful red bell peppers (I have a soft corner for bell peppers too), potato and tomatoes. The soup needless to say is creamy, luscious and out of the world – somewhere in between a hearty chowder and a creamy soup – a heavenly middle area.

 Have this soup hot along with a crusty bread or rusk and you’ll know what I mean. It’s so cold in Chennai and this soup would be perfect for the weather. It’s not snowing and it’s not below zero here but hey, for a lifelong Chennai girl, who has to sit in a freezer cubicle all day, this is cold. The basic idea of this soup stemmed from the numerous west-African peanut soups on the net but I’ve adapted it to my pantry limitations and my preferences. This African peanut soup goes to Srivalli’s blogging Marathon for the theme – African Cuisine.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

  

Ingredients

Red Bell Pepper – 1 small sized, chopped roughly

Potato – 1 medium sized, peeled and cubed

Tomatoes – 4 medium, chopped roughly

Onion – ½ a medium onion, chopped fine

Garlic cloves – 4 large ones chopped

Water or Vegetable stock – 5 cups

Peanut butter – ¼ cup

Butter – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Tarragon – 3/4 tsp

Oregano – 1 tsp

Black pepper powder – 1 tsp

Method

1.      Heat butter in a pot till it melts. Add the chopped onions and garlic and sauté till the garlic colours slightly. Now throw in the tomatoes, potatoes and chopped red bell peppers. Pour in the vegetable stock or water. Season with salt, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

2.      The bell peppers would be nice and soft by now. Remove the pot from heat and let cool. Transfer the cooled soup to a blender and blend till smooth. Transfer the soup back to the pot and heat again. Ladle out about a quarter cup of soup into a bowl. Add in the peanut butter and whisk till smooth and not pasty. If necessary add in a little more soup to the bowl. Then pour this peanut butter-soup mixture back into the soup and simmer for about 2 minutes. Add tarragon and oregano and adjust seasoning. Switch off. Serve hot with crusty bread or rusk.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#36