Khoresh Fesenjan or Pomegranate Walnut Chicken Stew Persian Recipe

My husband’s favorite Persian dish is Fesenjan (sometimes also spelled Faisinjan),which is a chicken stew made mainly of walnuts,onion,pomegranate and chicken. It is the perfect combination of slightly tart with a hint of sweetness for a delicious fruity stew. Most recipes call for a whole chicken or chicken legs,but my husband only likes boneless skinless chicken breast –so after much experimenting,I have come up with the perfect recipe for fesenjan made of chicken breast! Here is how I do it (with lots of photos to help illustrate the process):

Cube 6-8 chicken breasts and season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. In a frying pan over medium heat,cook the chicken breasts in butter,browning all of the sides of the chicken cubes:

Remove the chicken pieces from the frying pan to start making the sauce.  Finely grate an onion (I ran mine through the food processor,since I would need it anyway to grind the walnuts):

Then the real secret to this recipe is grinding your walnuts (1 cup) as finely as possible. You may need to run it through your food processor a few times,but don’t skimp on this step! Next,cook the onion in 3 TB of butter until they turn a nice golden color:

Add the 1 cup of super finely ground walnuts to the onions and cook for a minute or two:

Mix in 1 cup of pomegranate juice and 2 cups of chicken stock (or water if you are really desperate,but chicken broth adds more flavor). The sauce will look VERY liquidity,but do not give up or worry,after cooking for 45 minutes to an hour over medium heat,the sauce will thicken. Here is what the sauce looks like after adding the pomegranate juice and the chicken broth:

After 45 minutes to an hour of cooking over medium heat (stirring often so it won’t burn),the sauce will thicken and look like this:

Season the sauce with salt,pepper and sugar to taste. I happen to like it on the sweeter side,so I probably added about 3-4 TB of sugar. Some people add no sugar and others add even more than I do,so this is really personal taste. Once the sauce has thickened like in the photo above,add the chicken breast pieces back into the pan and cover the pan. Simmer for 30 minutes. Here is what it will look like when it is done:

Serve this over basmati rice for the perfect Persian dish! There are many other variations on this dish…for example,you can substitute freshly squeezed lemon juice or pomegranate paste for the pomegranate juice. You can also add a few tablespoons of tomato paste right after you cook the onions and walnuts. I have also heard of people adding cooked zucchini or even eggplant to the sauce. I love it just the way I did it above though.