Iran / Main
Fesenjan
Duck or chicken in a thick sauce of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses.
Ingredients
- Duck or chicken, in pieces1 1/2 kg
- Walnuts500 g
- Pomegranate molasses200 ml
- Onions2
- Sugar2 tbsp
- Turmeric1 tsp
- Cinnamon1/2 tsp
- Saffron1 pinch
- Vegetable oil60 ml
- Basmati rice, to serve500 g
- Pomegranate seeds, to serve100 g
- Salt and pepperto taste
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 7 steps
Toast the walnuts in a dry pan for five minutes, cool them and grind them almost to a paste.
Fry the onion until golden, add the turmeric and the meat and brown it all over.
Lift out the meat, add the walnut paste to the pot and pour in a litre of hot water.
Cook the sauce an hour on a low heat, stirring every ten minutes; it darkens and starts releasing oil.
Add the pomegranate molasses, cinnamon, sugar and saffron and return the meat to the pot.
Stew an hour more, until the sauce turns dark brown and thick and oil shows at the edges.
Taste and adjust the balance of sour and sweet, and serve with rice and pomegranate seeds.
