East African Groundnut Soup

From Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

I've made this soup about three or four times now, and I'm always happy with the result. It is really easy and cheap to make, with the most expensive ingredients being the peppers. This last time I made it, I used a new natural peanut butter I haven't bought before which was terrifically sticky. I filled a bowl full of soup for my boyfriend who took it to eat in the other room. All of a sudden I heard a "ahhhhhh!" coming from the room, and called in to ask what was wrong. He answered that he just got a huge clump of peanut butter in his mouth. "Oh my god, I'm sorry!" I called back, but after a pause he responded by saying, "No, it was delicious." Probably others wouldn't be so supportive of an unsuspected peanut butter clump, so my advice to you is to stir the peanut butter (one of the last ingredients) in carefully and thoroughly.

Serves 6-8 Time: about 1 hour

3 cups chopped onion
3 celery stalks diced (one cup)
1 tablespoons canola oil (or other veg. oil)
2 green bell peppers
1 red bell pepper
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons garam masala or other curry powder
1 cup raw brown rice
3 cups canned chopped/diced canned tomatoes in juice (28 ounce can)
6 cups water
1/2 cup peanut butter
1-2 tablespoons sugar (if desired)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
chopped fresh cilantro
chopped scallions

In a soup pot, saute onions and celery in the oil for about ten minutes on medium high heat, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the bell peppers and saute for 5 more minutes. Stir in the cayenne and garam masala; add the rice, tomatoes, water and salt and stir well. Cover and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat and simmer for about forty minutes, until the rice is tender.
Whisk in the peanut butter, sugar & lime juice. Top each serving with chopped cilantro and scallions, if you like