Sweet potato and chickpea mafé

Method

1. Finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and ginger; crush the garlic in a garlic press and grate the ginger. Halve the tomatoes and grate the flesh on a coarse grater over a bowl, discarding the skin. Stir the jar of peanut butter well, then weigh 110 g into a second bowl.
2. Heat the groundnut oil in a 24 cm casserole over a medium-low heat. Soften the onion with 2 g salt for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent and soft but not coloured. Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes and cut into large 3–4 cm chunks.
3. Increase the heat to medium. Add the garlic, ginger, tomato purée, ground chilli, thyme and pepper and stir for 2 minutes: the paste will darken, turn glossy and begin to catch slightly on the bottom.
4. Pour in the grated tomatoes and 400 g water, crumble in the stock cube, and add the bay leaf and pierced fresh chilli. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom and bring to a simmer (3–4 minutes). Gradually whisk 2 ladlefuls of this hot liquid into the peanut butter with a fork until smooth and creamy; pour this into the casserole and mix well.
5. Simmer the sauce on its own over a low heat for 15 minutes with the lid ajar, scraping the bottom with a flat spatula every 3–4 minutes: peanuts catch quickly. The sauce will darken, thicken and turn rust-coloured. Meanwhile, drain and rinse the chickpeas, squeeze the half lemon (about 25 g juice, without pips) and roughly chop the peanuts with a knife.
6. Add the sweet potatoes and 2 g salt and push them into the sauce; if it does not come two-thirds of the way up them, add 50–100 g hot water. Continue at a gentle simmer for 8 minutes with the lid ajar, stirring gently once. Add the chickpeas and cook for another 8–10 minutes, scraping the bottom. It is ready when a knife tip slides effortlessly into a sweet potato chunk that still holds its edges, a thin film of orange oil beads on the surface and the sauce coats the spoon. Too thick: add 50 g hot water; too thin: cook uncovered for 3 more minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf and chilli (or crush the chilli into the sauce for more heat). Stir in the lemon juice, add 1 g salt and taste; continue adding pinches until the sauce is well salted, as the peanuts and sweet potatoes mellow the seasoning considerably. Serve in shallow bowls with plenty of sauce, scattered with the chopped peanuts and coriander.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.