Fesenjun . Chicken with walnuts.

Persians have a LOT of amazing dishes and this is one of our personal favorites. It is called "Fesenjun" and it is basically a stew with walnuts, meat and pomegranate. Sounds yummy yet? If you have seen the Junior Masterchef in Australia a few years ago, there was a kid who made this. Although the judges liked the taste, it didn't make it because of its appearance...hahaha...yes, not the most appetising looking dish but truly a very delicious one!

- You can make this dish vegetarian. We suggest using mushrooms whole or cut into large chunks.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium onion diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Chicken - we used 400gr of diced thigh fillet but you can use as much/little as you like with or without the bone. People also make it with small meatballs.
Salt and spices
400gr walnuts ground
1 bottle of Pomegranate paste (found in Middle Eastern grocery shops)
1 tbsp brown sugar
Water

1. Soften the onion in a large saucepan and add the chicken and garlic mince. Cook but don't brown. Add salt and whatever spices you like (we used cumin, turmeric and pepper).
2. In the meantime, put the ground walnuts in a frying pan and heat until you can smell them roasting (be careful it doesn't burn and stir constantly). Add to the chicken.
3. Add the pomegranate paste (we added almost the entire bottle...only left about 1/8 of it) and sugar and stir.
4. Add the water until it almost covers the entire stew and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes to up to several hours - you can do this in a slow cooker and leave it to slow cook for a really long time. The stew will become darker.
5. Taste and adjust sugar or salt accordingly.

We served it on a bed of rice (as you would).

Chicken with spinach and prunes

So, Persians have made this meal and of course, this is our version of it.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium onion diced
1/2 kg chicken filet (breast or thigh) diced
2 bunches of spinach (or more if you like) roughly chopped
The juice of a lemon
1 tbsp sugar
A handful of prunes (pitted is better)
Salt and pepper to taste
Spices (we used turmeric, cumin and a bit of chili)

1. Soften the onion in about 4 tbsp of hot oil in a large pot
2. Add the chicken and brown slightly. Season with your favourite spices, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the spinach and stir (the pot will be full from the spinach but don't be overwhelmed, spinach reduces considerably once cooked).
4. Once it has reduced a little, add the lemon juice and the sugar (you can leave the sugar out if you like. We added brown sugar to balance the sourness of the lemon).
5. Stir and throw in the prunes (you can add these last minute if you'd prefer them a little harder - we like them quite soft so we add them at this point).
6. Add about 1/2 cup of water or stock , bring to boil then reduce heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until the water has consumed to the desired point (juicy or less juicy) and the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

We served it on a bed of basmati rice.

 

Chicken with mushrooms and cream

This is super easy and very delicious (well, at least for us). It is very similar to stroganoff but way simpler.

INGREDIENTS:
1tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
Boneless, skinless chicken (we used 3 pieces of thigh fillet, diced)
1 can of drained champignon sliced
500ml of sour cream*
3x chicken stock cubes*

1. Heat the oil and butter in saucepan.
2. Stir in chicken (it can be cut in whatever way you like or left whole), cook and brown on both sides. Take out of pan and save.
3. In the same saucepan you cooked the chicken, fry the champignons until slightly brown and add the stock cubes.
4. Stir in the sour cream and the cooked chicken and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with white rice and some greens if desired. This time we served with some quinoa (RECIPE HERE). Delicious!
NOTE: when simmering at the end you will notice some of the fat going to the surface. You can choose to scoop it out before serving.
* If you are near a Central American shop and can get your hands on mantequilla crema, use this instead of the sour cream and only add 2 instead of 3 stock cubes.