Peanut-tomato veggie stew
As it turns out, in Keylong I bought far more groceries than we needed for the ride to Kaza, which took Bell and I 5 days. There were probably over 5 kg of fruits and veggies with us. They didn't all fit in the designated pantry pannier. Onions and garlic went in with my clothes. If I recall correctly, pears and apples rode along with the medication and first aid kit.
Why am I sharing this? Because in Kaza, which felt like a big place, despite it not being so, but indeed having so many tempting places to eat, we had abundant produce to use up before it spoiled. So we cooked dinner the day after we arrived. In the room, with the window open, so that the combusted petrol fumes wouldn't all go into our bodies.
It was satisfying to cook a dinner that was really tasty and that just used what was on-hand already with us (and carried over many climbs). Thinking about it now, there are other reasons that this was one of those mundane but special moments:
First reason: After cooking a few lentil stews, they feel of a sufficiently similar category to the dahls available in every restaurant and dhaba. So it's hard not to compare them to each other. And you just can't compete with the dahls served in India. It's not a fair fight. This comparison has deflated my motivation at the moment. In previous years bicycle travelling, lentil stew was the default dinner Bell and I cooked. But change is the only constant. Now I crave a new default or a longer list of dinner options.
Second reason: I realize that part of a sense of feeling settled in and having some momentum on this trip is having a sort of go-to dish that I can reliably find or carry the ingredients for.
Third reason: I find myself craving variety and novelty. You could understandably think: "It's India, isn't there so much variety?" This is true if you lack constraints. It's hard to make generalizations. But so far, eating vegetarian is the default and therefore exceptionally easy, but it's been trickier to confirm what is or isn't vegan. Or rather: I haven't set myself up with the right translated phrases and questions yet. What ends up happening is that I feel fairly constrained when eating out. This is a whine. The first month bicycle travelling has been hard physically and emotionally and I crave comfort and comfort in the context of food means variety to me. Or pizza. If I could get plant-based pizza I'd eat it every day, variety be damned. Variety is why a peanut-tomato stew is special, it's novel and different than what's available outside, and it's plant-based.
Fourth reason: This stew makes me feel connected to different places and people and memories (below). Aww.
Peanut-tomato veggie stew
Here's how I made it. This is only the vaguest of recipes. I can say it's a flexible, forgiving meal that can be adapted based on what's available.
- Chopped and sautéed onions and garlic (a lot of them!)
- Plus if that weren’t enough, added a bunch of “Mother’s” ginger garlic paste, which is somehow still unspoiled, thanks to the cold temperatures.
- Added lots of sliced green bell peppers and also very thinly chopped eggplant, because that’s what we had on-hand. Other things would work well, like carrots, kale or greens of course, or courgette.
- Added tomato puree (because that’s what available; in the past I've used tomato paste, or fresh tomatoes, or both)
- Cooked it all up with some water, Maggi cubes, and black pepper
- Added soya chunks, which are dried TVP (textured vegetable protein), shaped into balls
- Added a few huge spoons of peanut butter last, and more salt to taste
- This was crunchy peanut butter but were it to be smooth I’d also have added some peanuts!
- Ate with rice but it could be enjoyed with any carb!
Caption: Peanut-tomato veggie stew, India edition!
Miscellaneous thoughts related to this stew
- I learned to add peanut butter to dinner through Marcus. There was a time some years ago when we were both in Nairobi. I visited Marcus where he was camping in Karen, and hung around while he cooked dinner in the grass on his stove. He, in turn, had learned the peanut butter trick somewhere north of Nairobi.
- I have a strong association between West + Central Africa and peanut-tomato stews. I could ramble on about why. One reason is that the first and only time I've ever seen peanuts connected to evidence of their life-cycle in the ground was in Sierra Leone. I have included a picture below.
- This stew also connects me to memories from the last few years, because it's been a go-to dinner when friends are coming over. I use a recipe adapted from this Cookie and Kate one.
- On bicycle trips, peanut butter is heavy but easy to justify having in the food pannier because it can be added to different dinners, put on bread, or just eaten with a spoon.
- It also keeps forever so you can buy it in a big town and then carry it indefinitely.
- As a plant-based person it’s really nice to have a readily available protein source that can be done sweet or savoury, hot or cold.
- Something about the combination of peanuts and tomatoes just creates a really nice balanced taste that balances tartness with richness and a bit of sweetness. Yum!
Miscellaneous pictures showing connected memories
Caption: This is Marcus, from whom I learned that trick to add a spoon of peanut butter to dinner. Thanks Marcus!
Caption: Marcus' dinner that night. But I don't see peanut butter, nor can I make out what the stew even is. Memory is so fallible.
Caption: In this picture I am holding a glass jar of peanut butter in Gabon. But I don't think this dinner has any tomatoes in it, if its colour is anything to go by.
Caption: I did not make the connection between peanut and groundnut, and groundnuts and the ground, until we crossed paths with these guys in Sierra Leone holding their harvest.
Caption: Peanut-tomato stew at home, with scallions, chopped roasted peanuts, and AKABANGA!
Caption: Cozy happy evening with Bell and Alex after peanut-tomato stew, and before tofu mousse + choccie.
Caption: In a delightful coincidence, these women in Cameroon were spotted with their groundnut harvest, leaping out of the pages of a used book here in Kaza! I love when that happens.