Fesenjan — Chicken in Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce with Saffron Goji Rice
A Persian recipe. The recipe is adapted from here. *Instead of making pomegranate molasses you can use pomegranate juice directly — replace the water (broth) with it and add 3-4 tbsp sugar. You can also make pomegranate molasses very easily yourself: heat 500 ml pomegranate juice, 50 g sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then lower the heat and "cook" for an hour and a half to two hours, until the mixture reduces to 1/2 cup of thick syrup. Let it cool. This amount is enough for this recipe; if you make more, store it in a jar in the fridge. **The sauce in the photos is too thick because I only used 250 ml of water; it is better a bit thinner as described in the recipe — with 400 ml of liquid. For the rice: I made traditional Persian saffron rice, and quite untraditionally I made it with goji berries. In Iran they use other little red berries — barberries (zereshk), which are extremely popular in Iranian cuisine. They can be replaced with dried cranberries or cherries (as long as they have no added sugar). As far as I understand, barberries have a slightly sour taste. With this cooking technique the rice is first boiled and then steamed so it forms a crispy crust; if you don't want to bother, just boil white rice and add the spices and berries to it. The rice recipe is adapted from here. I consider this amount enough for two; if you like, increase the ingredients proportionally.
Ingredients
| 600 g | chicken breast fillet | |
| 1 head | onion, finely chopped | |
| 4 tbsp | 60 ml | pomegranate molasses |
| 200 g | walnuts | |
| 400 ml | warm water or homemade chicken broth | |
| 1/2 tsp | turmeric | |
| 1/4 tsp | cinnamon | |
| 1/4 tsp | ground nutmeg | |
| 1/4 tsp | black pepper | |
| — | salt | |
| 200 g | long-grain white rice (or basmati) | |
| 1/2 | small onion, finely chopped | |
| 50 g | goji berries | |
| 10-12 threads | saffron threads, ground to a powder and dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water | |
| 1 tbsp | 15 ml | strained yogurt |
| 1 tbsp | 15 ml | cumin seeds |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | ground cumin |
| 2 tbsp | 30 ml | sugar |
| — | ghee (or butter) |
Instructions
For the chicken:
- First toast the walnuts — in a dry pan or in the oven. (To my surprise I had almost run out of walnuts, so I added some almonds too. Still, it is better with only walnuts.) Let them cool and grind in a food processor or blender.
- Clean the chicken, cut into bite-size pieces, pat dry with kitchen paper and season with salt. In a suitable pot heat 2-3 tbsp fat (ghee is best) and brown the chicken until golden. I fry this amount of meat in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pot. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and heat 1 tbsp fat in the same pot. Sauté the chopped onion, stirring often, until softened.
- Return the chicken pieces to the pot with the onion and pour in the water (or broth or pomegranate juice). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Then add the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses and spices. Cover and let cook over very low heat for about an hour. Stir and check the thickness of the sauce about every 20 minutes. The trick with this stew is to cook it long enough for the oil to separate out of the walnuts.
- When the dish is ready you can add extra salt or sugar. Serve with rice of your choice.
For the saffron goji rice: 7. Soak the goji berries for about 10 minutes in cold water, then drain and pat dry. Heat 1 tbsp ghee and sauté the onion for 1 minute. Add the goji berries and cumin seeds and fry briefly, stirring. Finally add the sugar, stir and set aside. 8. In a deeper, heavy-bottomed lidded casserole bring 500 ml water with 1 tsp salt to a boil. Add the washed rice and boil 6-10 minutes, stirring from time to time. When the rice softens, remove from heat and drain. 9. In the same pot heat 2 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp water. In a bowl mix 3-4 tbsp of the rice with the yogurt and a little of the saffron water and spread the mixture over the bottom of the pot — this forms a tasty crust (tahdig). On top put 2-3 tbsp rice, sprinkle with a pinch of ground cumin, add more rice, sprinkle with cumin. Repeat these steps, arranging the rice in the shape of a pyramid. 10. Put the lid on the pot and cook 10 minutes over medium heat. 11. Mix 2 tbsp melted ghee with the rest of the saffron water and 50 ml warm water and pour over the rice pyramid. Cover the pot with a cloth and press the lid tightly on top — no steam should escape. Cook another 50 minutes over low heat. 12. Remove the pot from the burner and set it, closed, on a damp surface for 5 minutes. This helps loosen the crust from the bottom. I skipped placing it on a damp surface and simply lifted the crust off with a spatula, breaking it up and stirring it into the rice. 13. Serve by layering a row of rice and a row of goji berries, arranging in a cone shape in the center of the plate. Distribute the meat with its sauce around the rice.