Khoresh-e Fesenjan Recipe
Pomegranate juice and ground walnuts are the base of this classic, sour Iranian stew.
ANOTHER RECIPE WITH WALNUTS?!
yep.
You saw how many walnuts I had!!? And this is honestly one of my favorite ways to cook with walnuts. (I also have a ton of walnut pesto in my freezer at the moment fwiw.)
Fesenjan is an Iranian stew my dad always made for us growing up, but because my sister and I thought it looked kind of meh (and we’re the actual worst), we refused to eat it. For the record, my sister and I ate EVERYTHING (and we still do). We were not picky eaters at all, whatsoever. It’s kind of funny that my parents let us get away with not eating this.
In retrospect, I get it now (why they didn’t force it on us)…because, well, fesenjan is GOOD. Like, really very good. By my sister and I not eating it, it meant more for my parents to eat. It was like their little secret dish that they could enjoy while we filled up on rice and other dishes Dad would have cooked.
Fesenjan is kind of an iconic Iranian dish imo. Iranian food really is a balance of sour and sweet, typically loaded with herbs, and this dish, while there are no herbs in it, really does embody the sour of the cuisine, due in large part to the use of pomegranate molasses.
All this is to say…don’t let the look of this dish fool you. It’s nuanced and sour, tangy and sweet. Make it with a big pot of steamed rice (and if you watch the video, you’ll even learn how to make tahdig) and enjoy it with family or friends or eat it alone like I did and freeze leftovers for a rainy day.
But most importantly, COOK IT! Make it, try it. and when you do, please feel free to post a photo and tag me on IG (@farideh) and use the hashtag #cookforiran (and tag @CookForIran).
I’m going to pull something from the Cook For Iran site about their mission and WHY we’re doing this:
“The current human rights movement in Iran has awoken the entire country and we aim to increase and sustain awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Iran. As time passes, we can become desensitized to far-away crises. The team behind #CookForIran believes that food is a powerful way to bring people together and keep the situation front-of-mind.
Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, Iran erupted in protest. Mahsa was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not wearing hijab according to strict government standards. She died in custody after being severely beaten. Her death sparked a movement.
Since then, hundreds more, many of them children, have been killed during protests - highlighting the lack of basic human and women’s rights in Iran.”
I hope that you’ll join me in using our voices to amplify the crisis in Iran and advocate for the women in Iran by cooking this dish (or other Iranian recipes you know and love) and sharing it across your own platforms. Host dinners and TALK about it with your friends.
You can also make a donation to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. I’ve added a “give a gift subscription” button to the bottom of this post. For every new paid subscriber, I’ll be matching the monthly subscription amount and donating it to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine.
Either way, thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope it inspires you in some way.
Khoresh-e Fesenjan
Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
INGREDIENTS
1 pound|450 grams shelled walnuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds|900 grams bone-in skinless chicken thighs
kosher salt, to taste
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cups|500 ml pomegranate molasses
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
granulated sugar, to taste
pomegranate seeds, for garnish
steamed rice, to serve
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 425°F. Spread the walnuts into an even layer on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely, then transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Purée until well ground, kind of smooth but not quite like a butter.
Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high. Season the chicken all over with salt and and pepper and cook, turning as needed, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the onions and turmeric and cook, stirring, until lightly golden and soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the chicken.
Add the ground walnuts to the saucepan along with the pomegranate molasses and 2 cups|500 ml water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally until thick, about 1 ½ hours. Add in the reserved chicken and onions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is very tender, about 1 hour longer. Season with the salt and cinnamon and divide among plates. Top with pomegranate seeds to garnish and serve with steamed rice.
And, yes, we savored the fesenjan you girls wouldn't eat for so many years! Your audience is in for a treat! Enjoy!
Farideh, so proud of you to continue to acknowledge the situation in Iran. Where is the UN in protecting the people from the atrocities happening there? People are being arrested and publicly killed for peacefully demonstrating.