Daraba

We have very few vegetarian dinners on the map, and this is one that does not feel like a side dish pretending to be a main: peanut butter and sweet potato make it filling, and it costs almost nothing. I want to learn how okra works as a thickener instead of fighting it, and I want to taste the peanut-and-greens combination that runs across the Sahel from Senegal to Sudan. It is weeknight-feasible because everything goes into one pot in stages and simmers for half an hour while the rice cooks. The chile goes in whole so it perfumes the stew without making it hot, and I can pull it out before serving my son.

• Okra: Fresh or frozen both work; frozen sliced okra is the easier weeknight choice and thickens the stew just as well. Cooking it 20 minutes in acidic tomato tames the slipperiness.
• Natural peanut butter: Use unsweetened, no-sugar-added peanut butter so the stew tastes of peanuts rather than candy. Whisk it into a little hot broth before adding so it does not clump.
• Sweet potato: Orange-fleshed is fine; in Chad white or yellow sweet potatoes are more common, and either gives the stew its soft sweetness.
• Greens: Spinach is the easy choice; collards or kale are closer in texture to the sturdier greens used in Chad and need 5 more minutes.
• Bouillon cube: A Maggi-type cube is a standard seasoning across Central Africa and is what gives this meatless stew its savory backbone. Use a vegetable cube to keep it vegetarian.

1. Start the rice: rinse 1 1/2 cups rice and cook with 2 1/2 cups water and a pinch of salt according to the package.
2. Dice the onion and tomatoes; mince the garlic. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 3/4-inch chunks.
3. If using fresh okra, trim the stems and slice into 1/2-inch rounds. If frozen, leave it in the bag until needed.
4. Wash the greens, strip any thick stems and chop roughly.
5. Measure the peanut butter into a small bowl so it is ready to thin with hot broth.

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
2. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute, then add the diced tomatoes and cook 4–5 minutes until they break down into a sauce.
3. Add the sweet potato, 2 1/2 cups water, the bouillon cube and the whole chile. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 10 minutes.
4. Add the okra, stir, cover again and cook 10 minutes more, until the sweet potato is tender and the okra has softened and begun to thicken the broth.
5. Ladle 1/2 cup of the hot broth into the peanut-butter bowl and whisk until smooth, then stir the mixture back into the pot. Add the greens and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes (10 for collards or kale), stirring, until wilted and the stew is thick and glossy.
6. Remove the chile (press it against the side of the pot with a spoon first if you want a little more of its flavor in the stew). Taste; add salt, black pepper and a squeeze of lime.

Spoon rice into bowls and ladle the daraba over it, or serve the stew in the middle of the table with the rice alongside so people can take the proportion they like. The chile that cooked in the pot can be chopped and offered in a small dish for the adults who want real heat; my son's bowl gets none, and the stew on its own is only gently warm. Leftovers keep three days and thicken in the fridge; loosen with a splash of water when reheating. It also freezes well, which makes it a good candidate for a double batch.