Dovi
Zimbabwe's peanut stew: chicken or beef simmered in a thick mahogany peanut-butter sauce sharpened with tomato and onion. Eaten with sadza.
Overview
Chicken thighs are browned in oil; onions and garlic are softened alongside. Tomato, paprika and peanut butter go in to build the sauce; water loosens it and the pot simmers covered until the chicken is falling off the bone and the sauce coats a wooden spoon. Spinach goes in for the last few minutes. The peanut butter must be smooth and unsweetened.
Ingredients
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or 1 whole chicken, jointed)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 onions (large, chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 thumb fresh ginger (grated)
- 4 tomatoes (grated) or 1 (400 g) tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 200 g smooth peanut butter (unsweetened, no palm oil)
- 600 ml hot chicken stock
- 200 g spinach (or covo, collard) leaves (shredded)
- salt
- pepper
Method
Stage 1 - Brown and soften
- Season the chicken; brown in the oil over medium-high heat 5 minutes per side. Set aside.
- In the same pot, soften the onion 8-10 minutes; add garlic and ginger, cook 1 minute.
Stage 2 - Build the sauce
- Stir in the paprika, cumin and chilli; toast 30 seconds.
- Add the grated tomato; reduce until jammy (5 minutes).
- Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Loosen with 200 ml of the stock; it should look like a thick brown sauce.
Stage 3 - Braise
- Return the chicken. Pour over the rest of the stock; bring to a low simmer.
- Cover; cook 35-40 minutes on a low heat, stirring once or twice so the peanut butter doesn't catch on the bottom.
- Stir in the spinach; cook 5 minutes until wilted and the sauce is glossy.
Stage 4 - Serve
- Taste and adjust salt. Sauce should coat a spoon but not be pasty - add a splash of stock if needed.
- Spoon into wide bowls with sadza for scooping.
Notes
- Peanut butter quality: Use 100% peanut butter (no sugar, no palm oil). Sweetened brands turn the sauce gluey and cloying.
- Stir to prevent catching: Peanut butter sticks if you walk away. Once a minute is plenty.
- Greens: Covo (Zimbabwean collard) is the classic; spinach is the easy swap. Don't skip them - they cut the richness.
Storage
- Refrigerate 3 days. The sauce will thicken; loosen with stock or water when reheating.
- Freezes 2 months. Stir well after thawing - the peanut butter and water can split.
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