How Persian cooks give Fesenjoon recipe?

Fesenjoon a Persian stew from the north of Iran

Iran is a 4-season country and contains different folks with different traditions and customs. This differentiation affects their food taste too. But among these diverse Iranian foods, you can find some common dishes in each city and town between different folks that have routs from ancient Persia. One of them is “Fesenjoon” which is a one of the most popular Iranian dishes from Gilaan and Mazandaran province and has different recipes in each city. “Fesenjoon recipe” is so popular all around the world, also, it is called “Walnut and Pomegranate stew” in English.

Fesenjoon one of the elegant dish in Persian Cuisine

This Iranian food is made of pomegranate molasses and toasted walnuts, and the final sauce can have sweet and sour flavor based on your taste and the recipe. As the sauce cooks, it thickens and deepens to a shade of dark brown and you’ll need to thin it out with water to prevent it from becoming overly sticky and syrupy. Do not worry about its points and process! In this article, you will learn some different Fesenjoon recipe and methods of this elegant dish step by step.
Iranians usually serve Fesenjoon over baked rice as a main dish and it could be cooked and served on any occasion, either for formal parties or friends and family gatherings.

Method 1: Fesenjoon recipe with Duck

This recipe is usually cooked and served in the north of Iran. As whereas they have a different taste in the food, they make this dish sour and with duck, goose, or chunks of meat. Especially they make it with duck and goose in hunting season, and at other times they use red meat or turkey. They use sour wild plum (Greengage) molasses to flavor it, instead of pomegranate molasses. You can find this Fesenjoon recipe below.

Ingredients of Fesenjoon with Duck

3 large yellow onions, 2 chopped
3 tablespoons oil
2/5-3 tablespoons plum molasses
300 gr walnut halves
1 duck, cut into medium size pieces with skin
4-5 cups duck stock
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt
Eggplant

Step 1.

In the first step put the pieces of duck in a well-sized pot and add 5-6 cup water over medium-high heat. When the water is boiling add turmeric and one peeled onion, then let it cook for 2 hours over medium-low heat. When it is tender put it aside and remove from stock.

Step 2.

In a food processor grind the walnut until you have a tan-colored walnut paste. With the processor running add chopped onions, process them until you have a smooth paste.

Step 3.

Set a large pot over medium-high heat and when the pot is hot, add oil and the walnut and onion paste. Spoon the walnut paste evenly and toasted it and then add plum molasses and continue for 2-3 minutes.

Step 4.

Add 4-5 cups of duck stock to toasted walnut paste. Let them cook for 1/5-2 hours over medium heat, and become a shade of dark brown sauce. Evenly check the sauce, stir and thin it out with water or stock to prevent it from becoming overly sticky and syrupy.

Step 5.

Half an hour before serving, add baked pieces of duck and sprinkle salt to the sauce and simmer for the final 30 minutes. Keep stirring regularly — the sauce should be thick, but not so thick that it sticks to the bottom of the pot, so add a splash of water as needed to prevent burning.

Step 6.

This step is optional and depends on your taste. Peel the eggplants and halve them lengthwise. Marinate them with salt and turmeric. Then put a pan over the heat and when it becomes hot, add oil and fry the eggplants finely on all sides.

Step 7.

When the Khoresh Fesenjoon is well-cooked, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fried eggplants. Serve it and enjoy it over Persian saffron rice.

Method 2: Fesenjoon recipe with chunks of lamb

This recipe is good for people whose preference is chunks of red meat in the food. Depending on the recipe, it can have a sweet or sour taste, but in this recipe, we want to learn you the sweet-and-sour taste; the sweet taste comes from sweet pomegranate molasses and sour taste from plum molasses.

Ingredients of sweet-and-sour Fesenjoon with chunks of lamb

2 large yellow onions
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons plum molasses
4 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
300 gr walnut halves
500 gr Chunks of lamb, cut into medium size pieces
3-4 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt
Suger

Step 1.

Peel the onions and process them in the food processor. Transfer them to another dish and start to process the walnuts until to have a walnut paste.

Step 2.

Put a pot over medium-low heat and when it gets hot, start to toast the minced onions with 3 tablespoon oil until slightly golden. Then add turmeric to it and stir for just a few more minutes. In the meantime add the walnut paste, toast it and evenly spoon it to prevent burning. Continue about 2-3 minutes until lightly brown and fragrant. Browning is the key to a smooth sauce as it helps with the release of nut oil.

Step 3.

Add meats to blender contents and continue heating until the meat pieces get golden brown on all sides. Add about 3-4 cups of cold water gradually to the toasted flour and stir simultaneously. In this way, you prevent forming lumps. Cook, covered, for about 60 minutes.

Step 4.

Mix sweet pomegranate molasses plum molasses. Thin them out with water and pour it to the contents of the pot and stir a bit. Let simmer gently, covered, for about 3 hours over medium-low heat, until the nut oil released. Stir approximately every 30 minutes to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Step 5.

In the last 30 minutes sprinkle salt, and sugar if you want it tastes sweeter. Stir for a few minutes and then let it continue simmering covered.

Step 6.

Take a look at the stew. If it’s thick as well, the meat is tender, and you can see a thin layer of oil floating on the top, your food is ready to serve and you have followed the mentioned Fesenjoon recipe as well.

Point:

If the meat is tender but the mixture does not have the desired thickness, remove the meat from the stew, and then continue heating uncovered over medium heat for a few more minutes and let the sauce thicken. Before serving, you can add the meat again.
This is optional but some Persian cooks recommend the addition of a few ice cubes in the final stages of cooking for a sudden temperature drop, which helps with an oil atop final stew.

Step 7.

Transfer the stew in your desired serving dish and you can garnish it with pomegranate seeds.
Bon appetite!

 

Method 3: Fesenjoon recipe with Chicken and Pumpkin

In this method, you can use pumpkin as a sweet flavoring and for the thickness of the stew. Here you learn sweet Fesenjoon recipe with chicken.

Ingredients of Fesenjoon with Chicken and Pumpkin

2 large yellow onions
5-6 tablespoons sweet pomegranate molasses
500 gr walnut halves
1.5 kg boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts, trimmed of excess fat, cut into medium size pieces, patted dry and salted
3-4 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3-4 tablespoons Suger
Pumpkin, cut into small cubes and pieces
Oil
Salt

Step 1.

Put a pan over medium-high heat and when it gets hot, start to fry the chicken pieces with oil until all pieces get golden brown on all sides. In the meantime start to ground the walnut and onions in the food processor. First process all the walnuts and then add the peeled, cut onions to it, and process together in order to have a smooth paste.

Step 2.

Now pour the paste into the pot and toast it with chicken pieces over low heat until slightly brown. At this time sprinkle the turmeric. While toasting, stir the flour constantly, otherwise, it burns quickly. And don’t make it too brown because it’ll give a bitter taste to your food.

Step 3.

Add 3-4 cups of cold water gradually to the contents of the pot and stir constantly to have a smooth blender. First, increase the heat to medium-high and add sweet thinned pomegranate molasses. Then add the sugar to the stew and stir finely. When the stew starts to boiling decrease the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 80 minutes. During this time do not forget to check and stir the stew every 20 minutes to prevent sticking the mixture to the bottom of the pot.

Point:

According to your taste you can increase or decrease the amount of sugar. Also, if your pomegranate molasses is sweet it’s not necessary to add more sugar.

Step 4.

While the stew is simmering, start to toast the pumpkin cubes with oil over medium heat. All sides should get golden brown. Then set them aside.

Step 5.

After passing 80 minutes of simmering, sprinkle the salt to the taste and stir. After that arrange the fried pumpkins on the stew in a single layer and let to continue cooking covered for the next 30 minutes. Do not forget to stir the mixture!

Step 6.

Check the stew, if the chicken is tender, its thickness is desired and there is a thin layer on the top; the stew is prepared. You can serve it in a suitable dish.
But if the chicken is not tender well, you can cover the pot and cook for 30-45 more minutes over medium-low heat. And stir the stew and in the case of necessity thin it out with a little water to prevent it from becoming overly sticky and syrupy.

Points:

If the chicken is tender but the stew has not good thicken remove the chicken pieces from the stew. And now continue heating until your desired thickness and the nuts oil released on the top of the stew. Before serving add chicken pieces to the stew again and let boil together uncovered for 1-2 minutes.

 

Method 4: Fesenjoon recipe with Meatballs

Fesenjoon with meatball is one of the most common recipes in different cities. In this recipe, ground veal is used instead of poultry or chunks of lamb. This method is as delicious as previous ones and has its fans, especially those who do not like to taste chunks of meat in the food. Based on your interest you can make it sour or sweet, but here the recipe is about sweet-and-sour.

Ingredients of Fesenjoon with Meatballs

3 medium-sized yellow onions
5-6 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
300 gr walnut halves
500 gr ground veal
3-4 cups of water
1 teaspoons turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Suger
2-3 tablespoons oil
Salt

Step 1.

Before all peel 2 onions and grate them. Then mix it with ground veal and add salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon turmeric. Now pat the meat and make small meatballs. Put a well-sized pan over medium heat and fry the meatballs. Toast them well on all sides. Now put them aside.

Step 2.

In this step, you should process the walnuts in the food processor to have a silky paste. Then peel 1 onion and grate finely.

Step 3.

Put the pan you want to make the stew into, over the medium heat. When it becomes hot pour oil into and start to toast the onions finely until it becomes golden brown. Now add the paste of walnut and toast for about 2-3 minutes. Spoon and stir evenly to not burn. Just it should get lightly brown; browning helps with the release of nut oil.

Step 4.

Now add pomegranate molasses and stir a bit to toast it with walnut paste and onions. After that, add cold water. Increase the heat to medium-high until the blender starts to boil. Then cover it and over low heat, let to simmer for about 2 hours. During simmering stir the stew constantly.

Step 5.

After 2 hours when the nut oil released, sprinkle a little salt to the taste and add toasted meatballs. Continue cook covered for 30 more minutes and do not forget stirring. In the case of requirement, to prevent it from becoming overly sticky add cold water.

Step 6.

Check the stew and based on your desire you can add 1-2 tablespoons sugar o have sweeter stew. Uncover the pot, increase the heat to medium, and let the sauce thicken and boil for another 10 minutes. Now the Fesenjoon Khoresh is ready, transfer it to the serving dish, and enjoy it over Persian rice.

This Persian dish is more preferred and served during cold seasons but many people cook and enjoy it in any season. Almost Fesenjoon Khoresh is served over saffron Persian rice and besides it, you can have yogurt, green salad and, drink Doogh.
During your travel to Iran, try not to miss this elegant dish with the methods of Persian cooks.