Tigadégué Na (Malian Peanut Beef Stew)

About This Recipe

Tigadégué Na — sometimes spelled tiguadège na or tigadeguena — is the national dish of Mali, and a Bambara and Manding staple across the western Sahel. The name in Bambara means 'peanut sauce' — and the dish is a celebration of West Africa's two most important crops, peanuts and rice. Tough beef cuts are seared and braised with onion, tomato paste, garlic, and a generous spoon of fresh chili paste, then enriched with raw natural peanut butter (or freshly pounded roasted peanuts) until the sauce thickens into a velvety, deeply savory gravy the color of red clay. The dish is served over fluffy long-grain rice cooked Senegalese-Malian style with onion and a touch of tomato. Many Malian families add a few pieces of okra or sweet potato to soak up the sauce. The flavor is rich, almost meaty even when vegetarian, with the peanut providing a long sustained finish that distinguishes Sahelian stews from their West African cousins like nigerian groundnut soup.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 900 gbeef chuck or shin, cut into 4 cm chunks
• 3 tbspneutral oil (peanut oil if you have it)
• 2 largeyellow onions, finely diced
• 6 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1 thumbginger, grated
• 5 tbsptomato paste
• 1 can(400g) crushed tomatoes
• 2Scotch bonnet chilies, deseeded and minced (or 1 if heat-shy)
• 1 tbspfine salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tspground white pepper
• 2bay leaves
• 1.2 Lwater or beef stock
• 300 gnatural smooth peanut butter (no sugar or palm oil)(or 350 g freshly ground roasted peanuts)
• 1 mediumsweet potato, peeled and cubed (optional)
• 200 gfresh okra, trimmed and halved (optional)
• 400 glong-grain rice, for serving
• extra chopped onion, for garnish

Instructions

1. 1

   Sear the beef

   Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high. Pat beef dry and brown in 2 batches, about 4 minutes per batch, until each piece has a dark crust. Remove and set aside.

2. 2

   Build the base

   Drop heat to medium. Add the diced onions to the same pot and cook 8 minutes until deeply golden — the dark fond is essential to the stew's color. Add garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute.

3. 3

   Bloom the tomato paste

   Push the onions to the edge of the pot. Add tomato paste to the center and cook 3 minutes, stirring, until it darkens brick red and smells caramelized — this kills the tinny taste and concentrates the umami.

   Properly bloomed tomato paste is one of the secrets to West African stews — never skip this step.

4. 4

   Add tomatoes and chili

   Stir in crushed tomatoes, Scotch bonnet, salt, white pepper, and bay leaves. Cook 5 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.

5. 5

   Braise the beef

   Return the beef and all juices to the pot. Add water/stock to cover by 3 cm. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 50 minutes until the beef is just becoming tender.

6. 6

   Whisk in peanut butter

   Spoon out a ladle of hot cooking liquid into a small bowl. Whisk the peanut butter into it until smooth — don't add the peanut butter directly to the pot or it clumps. Stir the loosened peanut butter into the stew.

7. 7

   Add vegetables and finish

   Add sweet potato and okra if using. Simmer uncovered 25 more minutes, stirring every few minutes — the sauce should thicken to coat the back of a spoon and turn a deep terra-cotta. Taste and adjust salt.

8. 8

   Cook the rice

   Meanwhile, cook the rice with a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt in a 1:1.5 ratio (rice to water), 18 minutes covered over low heat. Rest 10 minutes.

9. 9

   Serve

   Mound rice on plates; ladle generous portions of stew over the top. Garnish with extra chopped raw onion for crunch.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian: omit beef, double the sweet potato, and add a 400g can of cooked chickpeas.

• •

  Chicken version (tigadégué na ni kɔnɔ): use bone-in thighs instead of beef, reduce cooking time to 35 minutes total.

• •

  Some northern Mali cooks add a teaspoon of ground dried selim pepper (kani diarba) for a smoky note.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days; flavors improve. Reheat gently with a splash of water — the peanut sauce thickens further when cold. Freezes well 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions