Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew)
Chicken simmered in a velvety peanut butter and tomato sauce with greens, Zimbabwe's gentle, comforting Sunday stew.
Zimbabwean · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 55 min
~822 cal · 79g protein · 26g carbs · 44g fat · 8g fiber · 10g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dovi, sometimes called huku ne dovi, is the peanut stew at the heart of Zimbabwean home cooking, where groundnuts have long been a pantry staple. Chicken is browned and then simmered in a sauce of peanut butter, tomato and onion until the raw peanut taste cooks out and the liquid turns creamy and nutty.
It is milder than many of West Africa's fierier groundnut stews, leaning comforting rather than hot, which is why it is such a favourite for Sunday family lunches and gatherings after church. Leafy greens like covo, pumpkin leaves or spinach are stirred in at the end for colour and freshness.
Dovi is meant for sharing from one big pot, scooped up with sadza, the stiff white maize porridge, in the communal spirit Zimbabweans call ukama, the bonds of kinship.
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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 kg bone-in chicken pieces
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 onions, chopped
3 tomatoes, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 cups pumpkin leaves or spinach, chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
1
Brown the chicken pieces in the oil in a heavy pot, then lift them out and set aside.
2
Soften the onions in the same pot, add the garlic and ginger, then the grated tomatoes, and cook to a thick base, about 8 minutes.
3
Whisk the peanut butter smooth with a cup of hot water or stock, then stir it into the pot.
✎ Chef’s note
Loosen the peanut butter with liquid before it hits the pot. Added straight, it seizes into greasy lumps.
4
Return the chicken (or chickpeas and sweet potato), cover, and simmer gently 35 to 40 minutes until tender and the sauce is creamy.
5
Stir in the greens for the last few minutes until wilted, season, and serve with sadza.
Zimbabwean Sunday home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Harare. Sadza is cooked in two stages: a thin porridge first, then more meal beaten in against the side of the pot until a spoon will stand upright in it. At the table a piece is torn off, rolled in the right hand and dented with the thumb to carry the relish, whether that is beef stew, greens in peanut butter or dried fish.
🗺️
Zimbabwe. Peanut butter is used as a cooking fat and a thickener rather than a spread, stirred into greens, pumpkin leaves and porridge, and it is the base of dovi, the peanut stew. Madora, the mopane worm, is dried and rehydrated or fried and eaten as a protein-dense snack, and it is farmed and traded seriously rather than as a curiosity.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Zimbabwe
Muriwo Unedovi (Greens in Peanut Butter)Collard greens folded into a creamy peanut-butter sauce, Zimbabwe’s everyday pairing for sadza.
BotaA soft, thin maize-meal breakfast porridge enriched with peanut butter and a little sugar.
Nyama ne SadzaBeef stewed with tomato and onion served with stiff maize sadza, the everyday heart of the Zimbabwean table.
Browse all Zimbabwe recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Zimbabwe meal
MaheuDrink
Chikenduza (Candy Cakes)Dessert
Nyama ne SadzaLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Moamba de Ginguba (Peanut Chicken Stew)Angola
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Caldo de MancarraGuinea-Bissau
Aïch (Millet Couscous in Chicken and Bean Broth)Mauritania
Granat Stew (Groundnut Stew)Sierra Leone
Muamba de GalinhaAngola
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew)?
Chicken simmered in a velvety peanut butter and tomato sauce with greens, Zimbabwe's gentle, comforting Sunday stew.
Where does Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) come from?
Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) is a Zimbabwean dish from Harare, Zimbabwe.
Can Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) 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 Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) 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 Dovi (Chicken Peanut Stew) take to make?
About 75 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 55 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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