Fesenjan
A classic of Persian cooking: a stew whose sauce is made from ground walnuts, water and pomegranate molasses, with no flour and no cream. Over nearly two hours of slow cooking the walnuts release their oil and the sauce darkens from beige to almost black — that colour change is the best sign it is ready. Pomegranate molasses brings the acidity that balances an enormous amount of fat.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Walnuts 15 min
- Chicken 15 min
- Simmering 105 min
- Balancing 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneGrind the walnuts to an oily paste
Pulse the walnuts in a food processor to a fine, damp meal that starts to clump — finer than ground almonds, but not to a smooth butter. Too coarse and they will not give up their oil and the sauce stays gritty; ground to a butter they stick to the base and scorch easily.
Ingredients: 400 g walnuts · 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses · 900 ml water · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp salt
Fine and oily — neither flour nor fragments.Toast the ground walnuts dry
Toast the ground walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant and slightly darker. Toasting draws out their aroma. Watch them — scorched walnuts make the whole pot bitter.
Ingredients: 400 g walnuts · 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses · 900 ml water · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp salt
Brown the chicken and colour the onion
Heat the butter in a wide, heavy-based pot and brown the chicken in batches on both sides, about 5 minutes. Set the meat aside on a plate — it goes back in only halfway through the simmering, so it does not fall into threads. In the same fat fry the chopped onion for 10 minutes, to golden.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 1 pinch saffron
Loosen the walnuts with water and simmer an hour
Tip the walnuts into the pot with the onion, pour in the water and cook 60 minutes on the lowest heat with the lid ajar, stirring every 10 minutes and scraping the bottom, as the walnuts catch easily. The sauce will be pale and thin at first — that is normal.
Ingredients: 400 g walnuts · 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses · 900 ml water · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp salt
At the start the sauce is pale and loose.Add the chicken, molasses and sugar
Return the chicken, pour in the pomegranate molasses and add the sugar, turmeric, cinnamon and salt, then cook another 45 minutes. The sugar is not optional — the molasses is very sour, and fesenjan should be sweet-sour, not sharply sour.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 1 pinch saffron
Cook until the sauce darkens and releases oil
The dish is ready when the sauce is dark brown, almost black, with a film of walnut oil gathering on the surface. That is the surest sign. If the sauce is still pale after 45 minutes, keep cooking and check every 10 minutes; if it gets too thick, add a splash of water.
Ingredients: 400 g walnuts · 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses · 900 ml water · 2 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp salt
Almost black with oil on top — only now is it done.Balance the sweetness and acid
Taste and adjust: too sour, add sugar; too flat, add molasses. The balance is a matter of taste and family habit: in northern Iran fesenjan is usually made more sour, elsewhere it can be distinctly sweet. Steep the saffron in a spoonful of hot water, stir it in and simmer another 10 minutes on low heat.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 1 pinch saffron
Serve with rice and pomegranate seeds
Serve with basmati rice and a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds on top. The seeds are essential: they give sour, crunchy points in a very smooth, rich dish that turns monotonous without them.
Ingredients: 100 g pomegranate seeds · 400 g basmati rice
Before you start
The duck version
Fesenjan is traditionally made with duck too, and in the past often with wild fowl. Simmer duck legs 30 minutes longer — their fat marries beautifully with the walnuts and the meat stands up to long cooking.
With meatballs or without meat
In Iran fesenjan is also made with beef meatballs, or with no meat at all and pumpkin or aubergine instead. The sauce and technique are unchanged — the sauce is the dish, the meat only an addition.
Better the next day
Fesenjan improves overnight: the walnuts keep releasing oil and the flavours merge. It keeps four days in the fridge. Reheat slowly with a little water — chilled, it thickens to a paste.
