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M'batata

A creamy soup made from sweet potatoes, peanuts, and spices.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

M'batata

Time15–20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and sauté until the onion becomes translucent and fragrant.

  3. Add the cubed sweet potatoes to the pot and stir them together with the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes, allowing the flavors to blend.

  4. Pour in the vegetable or chicken broth, ensuring that the sweet potatoes are fully submerged. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and easily mashed with a fork, usually around 15–20 minutes.

Make the peanut paste

  1. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, toast the peanuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until they become fragrant and slightly browned.

  2. Transfer the toasted peanuts to a blender or food processor and process them until they form a smooth peanut butter-like consistency. You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender or food processor a few times to ensure everything is well blended.

Finish the soup

  1. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Use a potato masher or the back of a fork to mash the sweet potatoes until they are smooth and creamy in texture.

  2. Return the pot to low heat and add the peanut butter to the mashed sweet potatoes, stirring well to combine. The soup will become thick and creamy.

  3. Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder (if desired), salt, and pepper to the pot. Stir everything together, allowing the flavors to meld for a few minutes.

  4. If using coconut milk, pour it into the pot and stir it into the soup, adding an extra layer of creaminess and flavor. Simmer the soup for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  5. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as needed, adding more salt, pepper, or spices to suit your preference.

  6. Ladle the m'batata into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1073Calories
48 gProtein
73 gFat
65 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coriandernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Sweet potato + cumintop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together232 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Garlic + coriandertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet potatoes
Provide the bulk of the soup and, once cooked and mashed, its thick, creamy body and natural sweetness.
Peanuts
Become a smooth paste that thickens the soup and adds nutty richness; toasting deepens their flavor.
Vegetable or chicken broth
Cooks the sweet potatoes and forms the liquid base of the soup.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, building a savory flavor base.
Coconut milk
Adds fat and extra creaminess and richness to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Toasting and blending the peanuts. Toasting in a dry skillet develops nutty flavor through browning, and blending until smooth prevents a grainy texture, so the peanuts thicken the soup evenly.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, sweet potato, chicken, peanut, cumin, coriander):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, sweet potato, chicken, peanut, cumin, coriander. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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