Globecooking recipe : Pasipasi Kpedekpede Na Passio - Beef, Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew (Sudan)

After taking our tastebuds on a journey of discovery to Syria, with a recipe for Limon bi-na'na (aka Polo), a refreshing Syrian mint lemonade, then Chechnya, for a hearty lamb and vegetable soup called Nokhchi Sorpa, our third and final culinary port of call for the Food For Thought challenge is Sudan. Sudan has often been in the news, both for its civil unrest - millions died throughout a civil war that resulted in the country being split in two and, although it officially ended in 2011, the conflict is still ongoing in Darfur - and also the ravages of malaria, but I had no idea of what kind of food they eat. As usual, I turned to google and looked around for inspiration. I saw several people mentioning a beef, spinach and peanut stew called pasipasi kpedekpede na passio, which is easier to cook than it is to pronounce. I compared all the different recipes and tweaked it to use what I had in my kitchen, but the original recipe appears to be this one, which first appeared in Feast magazine, October 2011, Issue 2. Mandy, the host of the Food for Thought challenge over at Sneaky Veg, also opted for this dish and made a vegetarian version, Sudanese Sweet Potato, Spinach & Peanut Stew.

Pasipasi Kpedekpede Na Passio

ingredients :

500g stewing steak

3 onions

2tbsp garlic & ginger paste

1 glass of water or stock

1 sweet potato

2tbsp tomato puree

3 tomatoes

2 cups spinach, fresh or frozen

1 cup ground peanuts

salt, pepper, Cayenne pepper

As I was using a pack of cheap beef that was in the freezer for making beef bourguignon, I knew it would need a long time to cook if I wanted it to be tender so I pulled out the slow cooker. After browning the meat on all sides in a large frying pan and seasoning it with salt, pepper and a little Cayenne pepper, I tossed it in the slow cooker with the onions, chopped into quarters, 

After letting it bubble away all afternoon (about 4 hours on high), here is what it looked like. I used two forks to pull apart the beef.

I squeezed in some tomato puree and added the peeled and diced sweet potato.

After half an hour, I added the tomatoes.

Ten minutes before serving, I stirred in the spinach.

I had a bag of ground peanuts for Gado Gado sauce but you could crush your own or even use peanut butter.

I threw in about a cupful of peanuts and stirred it through, giving it a quick taste to adjust the seasoning before stirring. 

Halfway between a soup and a stew, this can be eaten on its own or with couscous or bulgur.

If you'd like to find out more about the fabulous work that MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders) have been doing in Sudan since 1979, as well as their current projects in north Darfur, west Darfur, White Nile and Al-Gedaref, head over to their website. You can also make a donation over at the Food For Thought Just Giving page.

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