Fesenjan Recipes

FESENJAN (IRANIAN SPECIAL OCCASION DISH)

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.

FESENJAN

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.

FESENJAN -PERSIAN STEW WITH WALNUTS AND POMEGRANATE

Steps:

• Heat a dutch oven over medium-low heat and toast the walnuts, stirring every couple minutes, until golden, roughly 10 minutes. At the same time, chop the onions and garlic. Cut the chicken ( if using) into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Drain and rinse chickpeas if using.
• Set toasted walnuts on a plate to cool. Then place in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
• Wipe out the Dutch oven and drizzle with a little oil and sear the chicken until golden. Set aside. Using the same pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, golden and fragrant, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic, cook for 3-4 more minutes. When onion garlic mixture is deeply golden, add the cinnamon stick, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and orange zest, and toast for 1-2 more minutes.
• Add the broth, sraping up any browned bits. Add pomegranate molasses, maple syrup, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt, the seared chicken, ground walnuts and bring to a boil, stirring.
• Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45 minutes, covered, stirring every 15 mins.
• Uncover, add chickpeas, and continue simmering until the stew has thickened and reduced, 10-15 more minutes, stirring.
• Garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley.
• Serve with saffron-infused basmati rice, quinoa, or Persian Rice.

FESENJAN (PERSIAN POMEGRANATE CHICKEN)

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Serve: Garnish with pomegranate seeds. Serve over parsi pulao or other favorite rice. Links: Slow cooker pomegranate chicken salad from Lydia of The Perfect Pantry

DUCK FESENJAN

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.

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.

POMEGRANATE STEW WITH CHICKEN (KHORESH FESENJAN)

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.

FESENJāN

Steps:

• Blitz the walnuts in a food processor until fine - you want to get rid of as many chunks as you can. Slowly add 900ml water until you have a watery paste.
• Tip the mix into a large saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hr, stirring often until the walnut oil rises to the surface.
• Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onions until golden, about 5 mins. Add the turmeric and stir for 30 seconds, then add the chicken and season. Cook for 5 mins, stirring until browned all over. Cover and cook for 10 mins more until the juices from the chicken run clear.
• Stir the pomegranate molasses into the walnut paste, then taste - add the sugar if you prefer it sweeter. Mix in the spices, if you like, and the spiced chicken and warm over a medium heat for 5 mins until heated through. Scatter with pomegranate seeds and parsley. Serve with rice.