Khorest Fesenjan, a classic Persian chicken dish with a sauce made of pomegranate and toasted walnut. Photo by Stacey Young.
Hey guys! We recently explored a vegetarian (actually vegan) version of today’s Persian dish, Khoresht Fesejan. Today, here’s the more classic version of this luxurious Persian stew with pomegranate, walnuts, and chicken. Enjoy this dish on top of the delicious rice dish of your choice. Classic chelo rice would work beautifully, or you could try my super easy basmati rice technique. Enjoy this richly flavored, slightly sweet, slightly sour stew.
Khoresht Fesenjan: Persian Pomegranate Walnut Stew
Note: Since pomegranate juice is so popular now and pretty easy to find in supermarkets, you can use that instead of pomegranate syrup. However, pomegranate syrup/molasses is available in some grocery stores, and also in Middle Eastern/Mediterranean stores. A lot of oil will come to the top of the dish. This is normal and nothing to worry about; it is the oil from the walnuts.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, ghee, butter, or neutral cooking oil of choice
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 pound bone-in chicken thighs, legs, and/or breasts, skin removed
1/2 pound walnuts, finely ground (shells removed)
4 cups pomegranate juice or 1/2 cup pomegranate syrup/molasses diluted in 2 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon saffron, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water
Salt, to taste
Honey or sugar
Cardamom pod (optional) OR 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
Pinch of allspice (optional)
Directions:
1. Heat the fat in a large pan Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Remove onions.
2. Salt chicken. Add chicken and brown on both sides, about three minutes per side. Remove from pan, and set aside.
3. Place the ground walnuts in the remaining oil in the frying pan. Cook and stir over low heat 5 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. Return the onion and chicken to the frying pan with the walnuts. Stir in the pomegranate juice or diluted pomegranate syrup. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. (You can simmer longer to deepen the flavor, adding water as necessary so the pan doesn’t dry out).
5. Adjust seasoning to taste. If stew tastes too sour, add a little honey or sugar and simmer a bit longer. Serve over basmati rice. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
West of Persia 
Love this! I never made it at home, only had it at friends’ places or in a restaurant. Thanks so much for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Nadia. It’s actually not that hard of a recipe. Like I mentioned, the hardest part is grinding the walnuts, but even that’s not so bad. If you make it, let me know how it turns out 🙂
Looks Delicious, Bria! The sauce sounds so divine…pomegranates & walnuts! yum!
Thanks hon. Trust me when I say it’s good stuff 🙂
This is the one dish that made me fall in love (and awe) with Persian cuisine; I had it in California years ago made by a Persian friend and thought it was the best thing I had ever tasted!
Agree, it is an amazing dish 🙂
Hello Bria – Lovely to meet you. I am very taken with this recipe. I can just imagine all those flavours dancing on my palate. I have never used that much pomegranate juice in a dish before but I feel very tempted to try. This recipe is brimming with so much health it’s amazing.
Hey Mariana. Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comment. Please do try the recipe. My friend who photographed it had never had it, and she’s still raving about it. 🙂
[…] The classic, stovetop slow cooking version is here. […]
Hi!
I just bought some pomegranate syrup from an Indian store today and cooked this dish with chickpeas (instead of chicken) tonight. I was surprised to find the syrup made the dish quite sweet and I had to add a lot more heat to balance it out. Is something wrong with my syrup? I expected pomegranate syrup to be predominantly sour and slightly sweet in taste. Am I getting this all wrong? Having never tasted this dish in traditional form, I am going totally by my assumptions of what a raw pomegranate tasted to me. Can you please take a guess at what I might have done wrong?
Despite the extra sweetness (as per my taste), I loved the flavor of the onion and walnuts. I ground the walnuts in my food processor. Is there a reason you didn’t recommend doing that in the above recipe? I am curious whether grinding nuts by hand can change the texture of this dish. Thanks for this lovely recipe. I will be trying it out again with different proportions of pom syrup.
Hi T. Thanks for your lovely comment and feedback. I’m excited that you made this recipe! To answer your questions:
Sometimes the brand of syrup can make a difference. Brands I like are Cortas and Sadaf. If the dish still tastes too sweet to you, go sour to balance that out. What I mean: squeeze in some lemon or lime juice, or a pinch of citric acid if you happen to have that on hand. Continue tasting and adjusting until you get the balance of flavors that YOU prefer. This is one of those dishes that we sometimes have to tinker with to get our personally preferred taste. I’m glad you like the overall flavor profile 🙂
Grinding walnuts by hand sounds like a pain to me, which is why I avoid it. Lol! Of course, if you want to do it that way, feel free. You might end up with a chunkier bunch of walnuts, which could be quite good for a more meaty texture.
If you make it again, please report back. Have a great day!
I had this dish with duck in a persian restaurant in London at the weekend, and loved it,so am glad to find the recipe here. Definitely will be trying this at home.
[…] the cuisines of Iran and other countries of the Middle East), enjoy Bria’s take on this delicious dish} Share this:TwitterEmailPrintFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this […]
I first had this dish in a lovely little Indian restaurant in Lincoln Park (Chicago). there version also has sour cherries. I checked several recipes and this seemed like it would be most similar. I made my own pomegranate molasses (very easy, just takes over had hour mostly unattended ). I just served this amazing dish with biyrani (a curried rice dish I made yesterday and I was too lazy to make new rice). I soaked my dried tart cherries in a little of the pomegranate molasses and added during the last few minutes of cooking. Then I garnished with fresh pomegranate. I plan to make this dish again in a few weeks at our monthly gourmet dinner party, along with homemade naan and of course fresh rice. Now I need to figure out a Persian or Indian dessert. Truly this recipe is all I had hoped it would be.