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).
- 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).
