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Here is a stew made for fall! This Chicken Stew with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce recipe is a classic preparation in Persian cooking, going by the name “Fesenjan”.
Chicken pieces are first browned and then slowly cooked in a sauce with ground toasted walnuts and pomegranate molasses. You might not normally think to make a sauce with walnuts and pomegranates, but it’s a perfect combination!
The toasted walnuts are rich and warm and the pomegranate molasses sharp and berry toned. Cooked slowly with the chicken, the sauce is spectacular. Bowl-licking good.
The only ingredient that might be a little unusual is the pomegranate molasses. You can make your own with pomegranate juice (see our recipe for pomegranate molasses), or look for it at Whole Foods or a store that carries Middle Eastern ingredients.
How to make Persian Pomegranate Chicken Stew
Persian Pomegranate Chicken (Fesenjan) Recipe
Make your own pomegranate molasses by simmering 1 cup of pomegranate juice until it reduces to 5 Tbsp of syrup.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 large yellow onions, chopped, (3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1/2 pound walnut halves (about 2 cups)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into medium size pieces, patted dry and salted
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Salt
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)
Method
1 Toast and grind the walnuts: You can toast the walnuts in one of two ways. You can either spread them out in a single layer in a large skillet, and toast them on medium high heat, stirring frequently until lightly toasted, OR you can spread them out in a single layer in a baking rimmed baking sheet, and toast at 350°F in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
In either case, once toasted, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, pulse in a food processor or blender until finely ground.
2 Brown the chicken pieces on all sides: In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
When the butter has melted, pat the chicken pieces dry again and place the chicken pieces in the pan, working in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan, and cook until golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle the chicken with salt while they are cooking.
3 Sauté the onions: Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the pan, set aside. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Lower the heat to medium low. Add chopped onions to the pan and sauté until translucent, stirring on occasion to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
4 Add chicken and stock: Return the chicken pieces to the pan with the onions. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock over the chicken and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
5 Add ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, spices, cover and cook: Stir in the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, sugar, and spices. Cover and cook on very low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to prevent the walnuts from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and adjust sugar/salt to taste. At this point the chicken should be fall apart tender.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serve over parsi pulao or other favorite rice.
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Persian Pomegranate Chicken (Fesenjan)
Great recipe
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I will definitely try your recipe. I think most Iranians make it sweet and sour, use a tasteless oil, use less onions and fry the onions until they are golden in color( but yours is more healthy), and as far as I know they don’t roast the walnuts. But I will roast them next time to see the difference.
Fesenjan is a dish that my mom would make since I was a child. To me this dish reminds me of my childhood. My mother passed away and unfortunately I never learned how she mad it specifically. This is a great recipe but it is a tad sweet. I added more Pomegranate Molasses so that it had more of a tarte flavor to it. Some Persian restaurants make it sweet and some make it tarte so it just depends on your taste buds.
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I am certainly no expert on Persian cuisine, but I made this yesterday and it was superb. Because of the eternal conflict within my family between white meat and dark meat lovers I sectioned a whole chicken into 8 pieces for the recipe and proceeded as printed. At the end of the cooking time the chicken was just about falling off the bone (a good thing) but the sauce wasn’t quite as thick as I thought it should be so I removed the chicken to a plate and reduced the sauce for about 7-8 minutes then returned the chicken to warm through. It was perfect, deep brown colour and all. Will be making this again, often.
I’m so glad you liked it Roger! Great idea to cook down the sauce further.
This tasted good, but it didn’t compare to the traditional fesenjoon I had growing up in a Persian household. As some of the other reviewers said, my stew stayed a light brown/beige color instead of turning dark brown (even after following the recipe exactly and cooking it down for an hour).
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Hi, Mahrue! It’s possible that the dish needed to cook down a little more. I’m glad you tried it, and I can understand how certain things can never compare to what you ate growing up! But thanks for your comment