Ghanaian Groundnut Soup With Rice Balls

20 mins Prep Time

1 hours 0 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

One of my all time favourite Ghanaian dishes! Rice balls and groundnut soup! A peanut soup with smoked turkey, chicken and then I added sautéed mushrooms.

Ingredients

Ghanaian Groundnut Soup

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (roughly 2 pounds)
1 pound smoked turkey
1/2 tablespoon cayenne
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
2-3 tablespoons oil
6 large tomatoes or 8-10 smaller tomatoes
1 1/2 cups crushed tomato
1 large or 2 medium onions
2"-inch piece ginger, peeled
4 Scotch bonnet peppers or to taste
Additional 2-3 Scotch bonnet, for garnish
2 garlic cloves
2 chicken bouillon cubes (like Maggi)
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oyster and brown button mushrooms (optional)

Rice Balls

2 cups jasmine rice or other long grain white rice
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Ghanaian Groundnut Soup

9 Steps

Step 1

Season chicken and turkey with salt and pepper. Set aside
Step 2

In a large pot, heat oil over low heat, then add the chicken and smoked turkey to the pan and brown on both sides, scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Step 3

In a blender, blitz onions, garlic, parsley, 4 Scotch bonnets, cayenne, paprika and ginger. Pour the mixture into the pot, add about 1 cup of water and bouillon cubes to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer until tender (depending on the chicken). You may need to add more water so chicken is always simmering in liquid.
Step 4

Blend your whole tomatoes and strain through a sieve to remove pulp. Pour over chicken. Cook at medium heat.
Step 5

Add the peanut butter and 1 cup of water to blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, you can add peanut butter and 3/4 cup of water to a small sauce pan, mix together and heat up until smooth. Add this mixture to chicken and top with 5 more cups of water or until your pot is almost full to the top, add crushed tomatoes and add your additional 2-3 Scotch bonnets whole to your soup. Additional Scotch bonnets add some heat but are mostly there for garnish in my opinion.
Step 6

Let your soup simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 7

Note: Taste and adjust ingredients to your liking. Everyone prefers things to taste slightly different. I like my soup very peanut forward. Adjustment examples include: additional bouillon cube, more salt, more pepper, more blended habanero, more crushed tomato or more peanut butter.
Step 8

You should start to see the oil separate and then you know the soup is almost ready. Adjust the soup thickness with water if necessary. Taste and adjust seasonining.
Step 9

If adding mushrooms, I usually sauté desired amount of mushrooms in oil and season with salt and add to soup as I am serving.

Rice Balls

9 Steps

Step 1

Rinse the rice to remove excess starch. You do not want to rinse too much as this dish requires the rice to be sticky.
Step 2

Place the rice, salt and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
Step 3

Turn down the heat, cover rice and allow the water to absorb into rice. There is more water in this recipe than when making rice normally, this is to make it easier to mash rice together. This will take anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on size of pot.
Step 4

If you find rice too sticky, remove lid and turn heat down so some moisture evaporates.
Step 5

Using a sturdy wooden spoon mash and knead the rice against the side of your pot.
Step 6

Wet a bowl slightly with water and scoop rice into bowl.
Step 7

Shaking the bowl in a circular motion (swirling it around) you will be able to form your rice into a ball. You may use clean hands to help you form into a perfect ball.
Step 8

Serve with groundnut soup or wrap in plastic wrap until ready to eat.
Step 9

To reheat rice balls, you may remove plastic wrap and place in microwave, alternatively you may place in boiling water with plastic wrap on to reheat, but ensure that water does not penetrate the plastic excessively or this will make the rice soggy.