Rediscovering Traditions: Fesenjoon Recipe

My love of food stemmed in the kitchen of my childhood home. I remember watching my mom diligently wash, slice, pound and stir for hours on end as the aromas filled the room. The rhythm of her knife hitting the cutting board, onions sizzling in the pan, and water boiling on the stove all came together like a symphony in my head. Fascinated by the process (and the result), I promised myself I’d learn her recipes one day. Fast-forward a couple of decades and that day has come. As part of a Loblaws #TasteTheNewNext Rediscovering Traditions challenge, I recently found myself in my mother’s kitchen crushing walnuts and portioning pomegranate molasses as we prepared my favourite Iranian dish: Fesenjoon…

For those of you who’ve never had (or heard of) the dish, Fesenjoon is essentially a chicken, walnut and pomegranate stew that’s served over rice. It’s the perfect fall/winter dish in my opinion: hearty, warm, and high in fat (the good kind thanks to the walnuts). This is a dish you’ll want to feast on before hibernating on a cold night…

Fesenjoon can be sweet, sour, or any combination of the two depending on your preference (we like it half sweet and half sour at our house). And unlike most Iranian dishes which take hours to prep, Fesenjoon is surprisingly easy to make! It does need a bit of time on the stove to simmer, but the process itself is simple and all the ingredients can be found at Loblaws, so I thought it would be a great recipe to share with you guys…

Iranian Fesenjoon Recipe

Portion: 4
Prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Half of a small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp of fried onions
• 3 chicken breasts (or four legs if you prefer dark meat)
• 2 1/2 cups finely ground walnuts (use a food processor to grind)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/3 cups ice cold water
• 1/2 tsp saffron (I use Iranian saffron which you can find at specialty stores)
• 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• Fresh pomegranates for the garnish

Recipe

1. Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into a pot and fry half of a small yellow onion (chopped) on high heat.

2. Add 3 chicken breasts, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon turmeric to the pan and stir until everything is slightly brown.

3. Add 1/2 tablespoon of dissolved saffron (to make this combine 1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads with 1/2 tablespoon of water and grind with a mortar and pestle).

4. Reduce to medium heat and add 1 cup of water, cover the pan and let the chicken cook for 15 minutes. Set aside.

5. In a separate pot add 2 1/2 cups of finely ground walnuts and fry on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir constantly so they don’t burn, but make sure they are heated all the way through.

6. Add 1 1/3 cups of ice cold water to the pot, 1 tbsp of fried onions, 1/8 tsp of salt and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.

7. Add 4 tbsp of pomegranate molasses to the walnut mixture along with 2 tbsp of sugar (more if you want it to be sweeter) and cook on low heat for approximately 1 hour stirring often.

8. Toss in the chicken you made at the beginning and cook for another 20 minutes so it absorbs all the flavours of the sauce. Some people like to add in the chicken earlier, but note that it can make the sauce runny.

9. Ideally serve the stew on top of Iranian rice, but since it’s very difficult to master I use President’s Choice Basmati Rice which turns out perfectly each time.

10. Sprinkle on some fresh pomegranate seeds and voila!

As with all recipes, everyone has their own spin on things. Although many people like to throw in cinnamon, carrots or tomato puree to thicken the sauce, we kept ours the way we’ve been making it in our family for generations. Note: Fesenjoon is one of those recipes that takes a few attempts to get juuust right — especially when it comes to the sweet/sour balance — but once you nail it on the head for your palate, it’s one you’ll crave over and over again. Comfort food like no other and a traditional recipe I’m so happy to have finally mastered. Nooshe jan! 

A huge thanks to Loblaw for sponsoring this recipe post so I can share a family recipe with you guys. I practically live at this grocery chain, so I’m thrilled to be one of their 2018 Canadian Food Trends’ influencers. Follow along via #TasteTheNewNext to see the upcoming food trends!