Fresh-Roasted Groundnut Soup with Goat and Rice Balls

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 °C. Spread the peanuts in one layer on a tray and roast for 12 min, shaking every 5 minutes, until light golden right through and smelling toasty. Let them cool a little, then rub them between your palms to loosen the papery skins and blow the skins away.

   Add in this stepRaw shelled peanuts 150 g

2. Put the warm peanuts in a food processor and blend for 4 min. They go from crumbs to a clump, to a moist dough, and finally to a pourable paste; scrape down the sides as you go and rest the motor if it gets hot.

3. Cut the meat into 4 cm pieces, pat dry and mix in a 4 L pot with half the onion (sliced), the grated ginger and garlic and half the salt. Cover and steam on medium heat for 14 min to draw out the meat juices. If it catches, add a spoonful of stock.

   Add in this stepBone-in goat or lamb shoulder 700 gOnion ½Fresh ginger 15 gGarlic cloves 2Salt ½ tsp

   medium heat

4. Pour in the stock and add the whole tomatoes, the other half of the onion, the whole scotch bonnet, the halved eggplants and the tomato paste. Bring to the boil on high heat, lower to medium heat and simmer for 20 min, until the vegetables are very soft.

   Add in this stepLow-salt chicken stock 750 mlMedium tomatoes 2Onion ½Scotch bonnet, whole 1Small eggplants (or garden eggs) 150 gTomato paste 1 tbsp

   high heat→medium heat

5. Lift out the tomatoes, onion, pepper and eggplant, blend them smooth with a ladle of broth and push the purée through a sieve back into the pot. If you are wary of the heat, blend only half the pepper.

6. Whisk your homemade peanut paste smooth with the rest of the stock and stir it into the soup. Half-cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 45 min, scraping the bottom every 10 minutes. It is done when the meat shreds easily with a fork and reddish oil floats on top; skim some off if there is a lot. Season with the remaining salt.

   Add in this stepLow-salt chicken stock 250 mlSalt ½ tsp

   medium-low heat

7. While the soup simmers, put the unwashed rice and the water in a 16 cm pot, bring to the boil on high heat, then cover, lower to low heat and cook for 25 min until very soft. While it is still hot, mash it hard with a wooden spoon until sticky, then shape into balls with wet hands or a ladle.

   Add in this stepShort-grain rice 150 gWater (for the rice balls) 400 ml

   high heat→low heat

8. Place a rice ball in the centre of each wide bowl, spoon the meat and soup around it and serve at once.