Ingredients

• 1 lb raw peanuts in shell, shelled (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (from 2 bunches)
• 2 fresh small green Thai or serrano chiles (about 2 inches long), minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

1. To skin peanuts, blanch in a 3-quart saucepan of boiling salted water 1 minute, then drain well. Slip off and discard skins using your fingers and transfer peanuts to a bowl.
2. Bring 5 cups water to a boil with bay leaf in same saucepan. Add peanuts and reduce heat to moderate, then simmer, covered, until peanuts are soft enough to crumble easily when pressed with tines of a fork, about 30 to 45 minutes. (Test 1 or 2 peanuts, leaving the rest intact.) Drain well.
3. When peanuts are almost finished cooking, stir together tomatoes, cilantro, chiles, lemon juice, and sea salt in a bowl. Add drained peanuts and stir to combine.