This traditional spicy chicken soup from The Gambia, a small country in West Africa, is known as a cure-all and, amongst other things, is said to cure the common cold. The Gambians like their food spicy so be warned, pepe soup packs quite a punch!
I’ve visited The Gambia many times and have enjoyed learning their traditional recipes. It’s a wonderful place to explore so if you want to know more about my adventures there, from attending a traditional Futumpaf to a cooking lesson with Ida check out my travel articles from The Gambia.
Pepe Soup
Ingredients
- 250 grams tomato concentrate paste
- 500 grams chicken, cut into small pieces
- 2 litres water
- 1 tbsp black pepper, finely ground*
- 2 tbsp kani chilli, finely ground*
- 2 whole kani chillies
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 large Maggi cubes
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix the black pepper, chopped kani, garlic, and Maggi in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan.
- Stir fry the chicken until cooked, then add the paste from the blender and the water.
- Bring to a boil.
- Simmer until the stock has halved.
- Add the tomato paste and stir until it has been incorporated into the stock.
- Add two whole chillies.
- Simmer for 10 further minutes.
- Remove the whole chillies (which should be soft but not falling apart).
- Serve steaming hot, with some crusty bread on the side.
Notes
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Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link so if you purchase The Gambian Cookbook through it, I’ll make a few pennies towards another book to review and it won’t cost you a penny more.Â
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