Pomegranate Khoresh

I love all of Najmieh's recipes. Her Food of Life is my Persian food bible and fesenjoon is one of my favorite khoresh. The secret to this dish is having fresh walnuts before you grind them and obviously the quality of the pomegranate molasses/paste/juice (whichever you decide to choose) is very important. Keep tasting the khoresh as it cooks and keep adjusting the flavors until you get a perfectly sweet and sour dish. I prefer it to be on the sour side.

• silvia_v

• Belmont, MA

• 1/2/2021

I looked at many fesenjan recipes and decided to use this one as a base. My changes and comments: (1)I used 1/2 c. pomegranate molasses, 1 c. pomegranate juice, and 1 1/2-2 c. water. (2) Instead of grinding the walnuts into meal, I made a walnut paste, using some of the pomegranate mixture to thin the paste, then adding the rest of the liquid. This made the sauce very smooth. I accidentally also ground the additional 2/3 c. walnuts that were supposed to go on top, so my sauce was nuttier and thicker than recommended. I think it would be better less nutty and slightly thinner and would only use 2 c. walnuts in the future. (3) I did not add squash or carrots because other recipes didn't include them. I would add them in the future, the sweetness would provide a nice balance to the sourness of the sauce. (4) I cooked the onions and chicken, removed them, then used the same pot to cook the sauce. Per other recipes, make sure to cook the sauce until the walnut oil pools on top. My sauce became quite thick (too thick) after 35-40 minutes - it would have been better to have the sauce be the consistency of heavy cream, no thicker. I then added the chicken back for 15 minutes to allow it to absorb the flavor of the sauce. (5) I ground the saffron in 1/2 tsp sugar in a mortar, then added hot water, and only added an additional 1 1/2 tsp. sugar because the pomegranate molasses had sugar in it. I preferred it more sour and would recommend adding more sugar to taste after the sauce has cooked a while. Don"t omit the saffron, it helped to make the sauce a beautiful chestnut brown color. Grind additional saffron for the rice at the same time. I used chicken breast, but this would be better with chicken thighs (even better with drumsticks).

• stillcookin

• Boston, MA

• 4/27/2015

Can the sauce be made ahead of time and frozen?

• sb31

• Boston, MA

• 12/14/2013

This dish came out really well, and I can thank previous reviewers for some key tips. A few reviews noted that the stew had a grayish color. I wanted it to look nicer, so I didn't slice the meat. The result was so pretty, all my guests took photos. I used whole chicken thighs and browned them well in a skillet on both sides, removed them and most of the drippings from the skillet, and proceeded to make the sauce in the same skillet, starting with the onions and moving on through the rest. Once the sauce was made, I arranged the thighs skin side up back in the skillet and put it in a 325 degree oven until the thighs were completely cooked. Many reviewers also complained that the sauce was too watery, and so I started with just half the liquid called for in the recipe. As it turned out, I never had to add more liquid. Finally, thanks to the reviewer who pointed out the difference between sweetened and unsweetened pomegranate syrup. Who knew? And what a difference that made. I don't think I've ever gotten more compliments or was more satisfied myself with the way something came out. I'm definitely going to make it again, and next time should be much easier.

• xWRL

• Emeryville CA

• 8/17/2013

To those who didn't have the good experience of the food. This food is a traditional persian food and it has touhsands of years on itslef. Some of the comments in the text are inaporpriate like the added sugar or carrot, that sometimes might be used . sugar to add sweetness to sour pomegrante, if the pomegrante is already sweet you need to add some sourness!! so do not double sweet the food. also Carrot is for removing bitter taste of some walnuts. you have to blend the walnuts exteremly well and let it come to oil for cooking. the reason for watery cooking of this was that you have used a little bit if walnut, you shoudl add more. Also, I suggest you ask one of your iranian friend to cook for you to see how this works, or go to an Iranian restaurant, then you see the real cooking.

• a_amid

• 9/18/2009

I made this recipe a year ago without a food processor and it came out incredibly watery and bland. I decided to try it again, making it for my boyfriend and a guest in a proper food processor. I left out the sugar, cooked the sauce down for an hour, and it was still sweet, boring, and unimpressive. The flavors didn't seem to work together and my guest didn't even finish his serving. Later he asked me about my "experimental cooking" and was surprised to hear that I had actually followed a recipe to make such a bland, unimpressive dish. I'm not going to make this again.

• aja

• 5/4/2009

传统上使用地面核桃和把它们in with the onions and you don't add any oil because as you heat the walnuts , the walnut oil will that is diffused is enough for the dish. Also the cooking time is much longer, It should come together before you take it off the stove , it should be thick. If you have never had fesenjoon you should buy some form sadaf.com before you make it so you know what it should look and taste like.

• Anonymous

• California , Tehran

• 3/13/2009

This recipe is NOT going to make it into the 'make again' file. It tasted like nothing. And, putting it over saffron rice just tasted odd. The sauce was too watery, carrots were out of place and the overall flavor was bland and boring. It looked interesting but the vomit color it ends up as is very unappetizing. At least my daughter got to try pomegranate seeds for the first time...the only bright spot in this otherwise disappointing meal.

• niania

• 威斯康辛州

• 12/18/2008

I'm not ready to review this recipe yet, but I would like to make it. I have pomegranate molasses on hand from a Iranian friend, but I'm not sure how much to use. Do I substitute a portion of the POM juice for the molasses? The molasses looks pretty thick, and I'm sure I should only use a little. I would like a more authentic dish. Thanks to anyone with advice!

• Anonymous

• East Coast, USA

• 10/19/2008

Delicious! I used fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, (not the bottled POM kind,) and cut the sugar in half, and it was a tiny bit too sweet, but still delicious. I left out the carrots, and simmered it for about an hour to get the sauce thick enough. I would recommend leaving out the sugar entirely.

• ktrot006

• Cairo, Egypt

• 1/18/2008

It sounded interesting but came out terrible. I used pom juice diluted with the 2.5 cups of water and the dish came out so watery I had to keep adding more and more juice. The taste still didn't improve much. On top of that, the chicken came out a little overcooked, having cooked it at the beginning, before adding the sauce. I would suggest cooking the chicken together with the sauce but I would not make this again.

• shm18

• Santa Fe

• 9/30/2007

I used the duck breast and chicken breast, the squash, and the recommended amount of liquid. Agree that 3 cups is probably right. My dish was not pink, but mushroom color. Not so pretty. Flavors were veryinteresting.

• wtchywmn

• carmel

• 3/26/2007

The complex flavor and pink color of this dish is really impressive and wonderful. The carrot seems out of place in the dish and everyone agreed we should leave it out next time. I would also add some potatoes, cubed, along with the chicken. I only needed 3 cups of pom juice and that was enough liquid. also threw in some mushrooms that I had on hand and they were great.

• SUNNYCHEF

• NYC

• 1/12/2007

This is a very tasty dish. The sweet-tart flavor of the sauce is outstanding. I did make some modifications, however. I did not add any sugar as we felt that the cooked down juice would add enough sweetness; I used bone-in chicken thighs; I did not include carrots. I cooked this in a slow-cooker, but the sauce did not cook down much, so I ended up ladling out the sauce and cooking it down on the stovetop before serving.

• Anonymous

• Palo Alto, CA

• 12/12/2006

This is incredibly flavourful and delicious. Not too pretty to look at though as it resembles a stew!

• Anonymous

• Victoria BC Canada

• 12/6/2006