Fesenjan (Walnut and Pomegranate Stew)

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs
• 400 g walnuts
• 150 ml pomegranate molasses
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 700 ml chicken stock
• 25 g sugar, or to taste
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 40 g butter
• seeds from 1/2 pomegranate, to serve

Method

1. Toast and grind the walnuts

   Toast the walnuts until fragrant, cool completely, then grind them as finely as you can — almost to a paste. The walnuts are the body of this stew, and coarsely chopped they stay gritty rather than dissolving into a sauce.

   10 min

2. Soften the onions

   Cook the onions in the butter with the turmeric until soft and golden.

   12 min

3. Brown the chicken

   Season and brown the thighs in the same pan, then set them aside.

   10 min

4. The long simmer

   Add the ground walnuts, stock, pomegranate molasses and cinnamon and simmer very gently, stirring often. Over about 90 minutes the sauce darkens from beige to deep chocolate brown and the walnut oil separates out on top — that oil slick is the sign it is ready.

   1 h 30 min

5. Balance sweet and sour

   Return the chicken and cook 30 minutes more. Now taste and adjust with sugar: fesenjan should be sharply sour first with sweetness behind it, and molasses varies enormously in acidity, so this is a judgement rather than a measurement.

   30 min

6. Serve

   Scatter with pomegranate seeds and serve with plain rice. It thickens and improves overnight.