Fesenjan

Ingredients

Stew

• 500 gshelled walnuts, as fresh as possible
• 1large duck (2 kg) jointed, or 8 bone-in chicken thighs
• 3 tbspbutter or neutral oil
• 2onions, finely grated or very finely chopped
• ½ tspground turmeric
• ½ tspground cinnamon
• ¼ tspfreshly grated nutmeg
• 350 mlrob-e anar (thick pomegranate molasses)
• 1.2 litreswater or light broth
• 1–3 tbspsugar, to balance
• ½ tspsaffron threads, ground and steeped in 3 tbsp hot water
• 2 tspsalt
• black pepper

To serve

• chelow (steamed Persian rice)
• 3 tbsppomegranate seeds
• 1 tbspchopped walnuts

Directions

1. Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 5–6 minutes until they smell nutty but take no colour, then cool completely. Warm nuts grind to a greasy paste.
2. Grind them in a food processor to a fine, damp meal, stopping before they turn into butter. In Gilan they are ground twice through a mincer.
3. Brown the duck or chicken pieces in the butter in a heavy pot, skin side first, until the fat renders and the skin is golden, then lift out.
4. Soften the grated onion in the same fat for 10 minutes, add the turmeric, cinnamon and nutmeg and fry 1 minute.
5. Stir in the ground walnuts and cook gently for 8–10 minutes, stirring constantly, until they darken a shade and their oil begins to release. This toasting stage is what turns the stew from beige to deep brown.
6. Add the water, bring to a bare simmer and cook uncovered, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour 30 minutes. The walnuts will separate, then re-emulsify into a velvety sauce as their oil floats free and is stirred back in.
7. Add the pomegranate molasses, salt, saffron water and the meat, and simmer a further 45–60 minutes until the sauce is very dark, thick enough to coat a spoon, and glistening with walnut oil.
8. Taste and balance with sugar. Fesenjan should be sour first and sweet second in Gilan, sweeter in Tehran and Isfahan; adjust to your household.
9. Rest 20 minutes off the heat, scatter with pomegranate seeds and chopped walnut, and serve with chelow.

Technique

• Long, slow cooking is the entire technique. Rush it and the walnuts stay gritty, the oil never separates and the colour stays pale.
• Use fresh walnuts. Rancid ones, which is what most supermarket walnuts are by spring, make the whole pot bitter and no amount of sugar will save it.
• Rob-e anar is a reduced pomegranate juice with no added sugar or glucose syrup; read the label, since cheap versions are sweetened and change the balance completely.
• The stew scorches easily once thick. Stir from the bottom with a flat wooden spoon and use a heat diffuser.

Substitutions

• No pomegranate molasses: reduce 1.5 litres of unsweetened pomegranate juice to 350 ml with a squeeze of lemon.
• Duck can be replaced by chicken thighs (added in the final hour) or by meatballs of minced lamb for koofteh fesenjan.
• For a meat-free version, fry cubes of butternut squash and add them in the last 30 minutes; this is made in northern Iran.

Variations

• Gilani fesenjan is very sour and dark, made with wild duck and no sugar at all.
• Isfahani versions are noticeably sweeter and lighter in colour.
• Fesenjan-e kadu uses pumpkin, and a version with small fried aubergines is served in Mazandaran.

History

Sweet-sour stew of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses, cooked for weddings and Yalda night in northern Iran.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fesenjan?

Fesenjan is a soup & stew from Iran: velvety walnut-pomegranate stew with chicken or duck. Sweet-sour stew of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses, cooked for weddings and Yalda night in northern Iran.

How long does Fesenjan take to make?

Fesenjan takes 25 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Fesenjan?

Yes, within limits. No pomegranate molasses: reduce 1.5 litres of unsweetened pomegranate juice to 350 ml with a squeeze of lemon. Duck can be replaced by chicken thighs (added in the final hour) or by meatballs of minced lamb for koofteh fesenjan. For a meat-free version, fry cubes of butternut squash and add them in the last 30 minutes; this is made in northern Iran.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fesenjan?

Long, slow cooking is the entire technique. Rush it and the walnuts stay gritty, the oil never separates and the colour stays pale.