Fesenjan is a classic Persian stew that balances sweet, sour, and savory flavors. Made with chicken, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses, this rich dish is enjoyed during special occasions and is a testament to the beauty of Iranian cuisine. The history of fesenjan dates back to the Qajar era, where it was served as the main course at royal banquets. The combination of sweet and sour is a key hallmark of Persian cuisine, and fesenjan exemplifies this perfectly with its tart pomegranate molasses and sweet walnuts. The addition of chicken provides a savory backbone to the dish, making it a well-rounded and satisfying meal.
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FESENJAN
This rich, tangy Iranian chicken stew from Azita Houshiar is a highlight of the Persian holiday Shab-e Yalda, a winter-solstice tradition that predates Islam by thousands of years. The chicken is drenched in pomegranate molasses and cooked with a copious amount of ground walnuts, which results in a gravy that is sweet, tart and thick with flavor.
Provided by Sam Sifton
Categories dinner, soups and stews, main course
Time 2h
Yield 6 to 8 servings.
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly season chicken with salt and pepper, and sauté in olive oil until lightly golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Spread walnuts on a baking sheet, and bake until toasted, about 5 minutes. Once cool to the touch, rub walnut pieces between your palms to shed excess skin. Pulse in a food processor until finely chopped but not pasty. Transfer to a Dutch oven, and add onion and 2 cups water. Place over medium-low heat and simmer, partly covered, stirring it occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add 2 cups pomegranate molasses, sautéed chicken, squash, cinnamon, saffron mixture and 1 cup chicken broth or water.
- Adjust flavor with sugar, salt and pomegranate molasses, so it is tangy but also a bit sweet. Simmer gently, covered, until the sauce is a dark walnut color with a layer of oil on the surface, 35 to 40 minutes. If the pan looks dry, add additional broth or water as needed. Adjust flavors again, and stir so the walnut oil is well mixed.
- Bring the mixture to another gentle boil with the lid ajar, then continue to simmer on low heat until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, 10 to 20 minutes. Make a final taste test, and adjust flavors to your liking.
- To serve, stir so that the walnut oil is evenly absorbed. Serve hot with Persian steamed white rice.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 1073, UnsaturatedFat 48 grams, Carbohydrate 79 grams, Fat 63 grams, Fiber 5 grams, Protein 54 grams, SaturatedFat 10 grams, Sodium 1031 milligrams, Sugar 69 grams, TransFat 0 grams
POMEGRANATE STEW WITH CHICKEN (KHORESH FESENJAN)
Chicken, onions, finely processed walnuts, and pomegranate juice are simmered to perfection. The sauce should be as thick as a good chili. Serve with saffron steamed basmati rice. Enjoy! If you prefer, substitute angelica powder for cardamom; instead of pomegranate juice, you can substitute 1/2 cup pomegranate paste diluted in 2 cups water.
Provided by Sepi
Categories Soups, Stews and Chili Recipes Stews Chicken
Time 2h45m
Yield 6
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken and onions in skillet, and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in pureed walnuts, salt, pomegranate juice, and cardamom. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (If the sauce becomes too thick, stir in 1/4 cup warm water.) Mix in sugar, adjust seasoning, and simmer 30 minutes more.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 784.7 calories, Carbohydrate 95.4 g, Cholesterol 63.8 mg, Fat 39 g, Fiber 2.9 g, Protein 24.4 g, SaturatedFat 5.7 g, Sodium 444.7 mg, Sugar 82.5 g
FESENJAN (IRANIAN SPECIAL OCCASION DISH)
I had this marvelous dish in a Mediterranean Cafe. The fragrance is wonderful and the taste sublime. There has been quite a bit of discussion on this recipe. I would like to clarify that I have had this dish only twice at one restaurant and that I have never actually made the dish. I enjoyed it so much I searched and found this recipe online, it is not original by me. I do not find the one star review helpful. That it doesn't taste like grandma's does not mean it is a bad recipe. As for the use of Garlic, I know nothing of regional Iranian dishes, but I love garlic in most anything!
Provided by KerryBnTX
Categories One Dish Meal
Time 1h15m
Yield 6-8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
- Add onions and sauté until wilted and translucent.
- Add garlic, cinnamon and nutmeg and sauté, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in walnuts, pomegranate syrup, stock, sugar, salt, pepper and saffron.
- Adjust sugar and salt to taste.
- Bring to a low boil and simmer 1/2 hour.
- Add chicken and simmer on low heat another 30-60 minutes.
- Halfway through the cooking time, add the lime juice to taste.
- The sauce will thicken and darken during this cooking time, and the oil will begin to render out of the walnuts.
- Add water or stock if necessary to prevent the sauce from thickening too much and scorching.
- Serve with plain white rice.
- NOTES Fesenjan is special occasion food in Iran.
- It is traditionally made with duck or pheasant in the north of the country along the Caspian sea.
- It is a thick, rich, sweet-sour dish that improves in flavor the next day.
- Pomegranate syrup is available in most Middle Eastern and health food stores.
- If it is unavailable, you can use an equal amount of frozen, concentrated cranberry juice.
- The flavor is roughly the same.
- You can use a whole bone-in chicken if you like.
- Cut it into 8 serving pieces and remove most of the skin.
- The bones will give the dish a richer flavor.
DUCK FESENJAN
A savory stew featuring duck, pomegranate, and walnuts, which is every bit as exotic as it sounds. This is my interpretation of the ancient classic. I'm assuming like most similar recipes, every household has their own version, and this kind of thing can easily be tailored to your tastes.
Provided by Chef John
Categories World Cuisine Recipes Middle Eastern Persian
Time 3h30m
Yield 8
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Season duck legs all over with salt and black pepper.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place duck legs, skin-side down, in hot oil and cook until browned, 2 to 5 minutes; turn and cook until browned on the other side, 2 to 4 minutes more. Transfer legs to a plate; pour rendered duck fat into a bowl.
- Pour water into the skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.
- Heat about 2 tablespoons duck fat and olive oil in Dutch oven medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil and fat until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg; cook and stir until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Pour chicken broth, pomegranate molasses, honey, and reserved water mixture from the skillet into onions; bring to a simmer.
- Grind walnuts to a fine powder in a food processor.
- Cook and stir walnuts in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir walnuts into broth mixture; place duck legs in broth to cover in broth. Reduce heat and simmer until duck legs are tender, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer duck to a serving dish.
- Bring broth mixture to a boil; cook until reduced and desired sauce consistency is reached. Season with salt. Ladle sauce over duck legs.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 668.2 calories, Carbohydrate 32.3 g, Cholesterol 102.3 mg, Fat 48.1 g, Fiber 3.9 g, Protein 31.2 g, SaturatedFat 6.6 g, Sodium 990.1 mg, Sugar 24.9 g
SLOW COOKER KHORESH-E FESENJAN
Khoresh-e Fesenjan is an Iranian stew with chicken, pomegranate syrup and ground walnuts which is perfect for the slow cooker. Depending on how big your chicken is and how sweet you like the sauce, use more or less pomegranate syrup.
Provided by leila
Categories World Cuisine Recipes Asian
Time 5h40m
Yield 8
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Rub chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat and brown chicken in batches from all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Set aside.
- Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in the same skillet and saute onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon, and cardamom and cook for 3 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Cook until liquid starts to thicken, 8 to 10 minutes. Add walnuts and cook everything into a thick paste, about 10 minutes. Add chicken pieces, pomegranate syrup, and honey and mix well. Add to a slow cooker and sprinkle with saffron. Cover with a lid.
- Cook on Low until chicken is no longer pink at the bone, about 4 hours. Remove chicken from pot and debone. Shred meat with 2 forks and return to the slow cooker. Cook on High uncovered until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 870.4 calories, Carbohydrate 62.7 g, Cholesterol 89.8 mg, Fat 56.9 g, Fiber 4.5 g, Protein 33.2 g, SaturatedFat 10.7 g, Sodium 401.5 mg, Sugar 54.3 g
FESENJAN
Steps:
- Heat a skillet over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and brown lightly on both sides, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned. Add the beets, walnuts, garlic, cinnamon, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the pomegranate syrup and stock and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. The stew should be bubbling the whole time. Turn the chicken pieces over every 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and add salt, if necessary. The beets should be fork-tender.
- To serve, transfer the chicken to a cutting board. For chicken legs, separate the thigh from the drumstick. For breasts, slice each one into 2 or 3 pieces. Put a small mound of rice on each plate with a few pieces of chicken on top. Spoon the stew over the chicken. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and several cilantro leaves on top. Serve the cucumber yogurt on the side.
Tips:
- To achieve the best flavor, use high-quality ingredients, such as fresh pomegranate juice, ground walnuts, and tender chicken or duck.
- If you don't have access to fresh pomegranate juice, you can use store-bought unsweetened pomegranate juice. However, be sure to dilute it with water as it tends to be concentrated.
- To enhance the flavor of the walnuts, toast them in a pan over medium heat until fragrant. This will bring out their nutty flavor and make them more aromatic.
- If you prefer a smoother sauce, blend the walnut mixture until it reaches your desired consistency. However, be careful not to over-blend, as this can make the sauce too thick.
- Serve Fesenjan with fluffy basmati rice or crusty bread for a complete meal. You can also garnish it with fresh herbs, such as cilantro or parsley, for an extra pop of flavor.
Conclusion:
Fesenjan is a rich and flavorful Persian stew that has been enjoyed for centuries. With its complex blend of sweet, sour, and savory flavors, it is sure to tantalize your taste buds. Whether you follow a traditional recipe or experiment with your own variations, Fesenjan is a dish that is sure to impress your family and friends. So next time you're looking for a unique and delicious meal, give Fesenjan a try. You won't be disappointed!
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