Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Domoda
The Gambian groundnut stew: meat simmered in a thick, tangy peanut sauce with tomato and pumpkin, served over rice.
Gambian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 60 min
~1052 cal · 67g protein · 106g carbs · 41g fat · 11g fiber · 16g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Domoda is the groundnut stew of The Gambia, a dish so central to the national table that many Gambians consider it the country's true signature. Groundnuts (peanuts) are The Gambia's historic cash crop, and domoda turns them into a thick, glossy, russet sauce that coats meat and vegetables and blankets a plate of rice.
What sets Gambian domoda apart is its tang: cooks brighten the rich peanut base with tomato and often a squeeze of lime or a little sourness, balancing the nutty depth so the stew never turns heavy. Chunks of beef or chicken and soft pieces of pumpkin or sweet potato until tender in the sauce. Comforting and generous, domoda is Sunday food and everyday food alike, the smell of it cooking a signal that lunch will be good.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 lb beef or chicken, in pieces
1 cup peanut butter
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups pumpkin or sweet potato, cubed
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 or hot pepper
1 lime, juiced
4 cups cooked rice, to serve
Instructions
1
Brown the meat with the onion and garlic in a little oil in a heavy pot.
2
Add the tomato, tomato paste, and whole hot pepper and cook down, then whisk the peanut butter with water and stir it in with more water to make a loose sauce.
3
Simmer gently, stirring often, until the meat is tender and the oil begins to rise, about 40 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep the heat low and stir regularly; peanut sauce scorches easily once it thickens.
4
Add the pumpkin and cook until soft, then brighten with the lime juice and season with salt.
5
Serve hot, spooned generously over a plate of white rice.
Gambian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Banjul. Benachin is the Gambian one-pot rice, in the same family as Senegalese ceebu jen, and domoda is the groundnut stew that alternates with it. The river runs the length of the country, so freshwater and sea fish both turn up, usually smoked or dried rather than fresh.
🗺️
The Gambia. The Gambia, wrapped around its river, cooks West African classics, domoda (groundnut stew), benachin one-pot rice, and abundant seafood. Peanut, fish, and fiery pepper define the smallest mainland African nation's table.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from The Gambia
SuperkanjaThe Gambia's rich okra stew with palm oil, smoked fish, and meat, spooned over rice.
TapalapaThe Gambia's daily bread: a crusty, dense baton of mixed millet, maize, and wheat flours, baked in a clay oven and torn open for breakfast.
ChakerySteamed couscous folded through sweetened, vanilla-scented yogurt with raisins and pineapple, a cool Gambian celebration dessert.
Browse all The Gambia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a The Gambia meal
Bouye (Baobab Smoothie)Drink
ChakeryDessert
BenachinDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Domoda?
The Gambian groundnut stew: meat simmered in a thick, tangy peanut sauce with tomato and pumpkin, served over rice.
Where does Domoda come from?
Domoda is a Gambian dish from Banjul, The Gambia.
Can Domoda be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Domoda recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Domoda safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Domoda take to make?
About 80 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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