Fesenjun

Fesenjun

Guide

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cooking time: 7-10 hours
  • Difficulty: 3/5

Overview

Fesenjun is a slow cooked dish traditionally made with game bird (quail, duck, pheasant), walnut kernels and pomegranate molasses. It ranks quite high as a favourite dish amongst most Iranians; though its brown colour means that aesthetically it might be a bit off putting to the uninitiated.

Notes

  • Fesenjun is generally served with Persian polo.
  • This recipe uses duck breasts but you can replace that with any other game bird. Nowadays, due to cost and availability, chicken is the most common meat used in this dish; and admittedly I’ve had it a lot more often with chicken than with any other meat.
  • Many people think Fesenjun tastes better once it has stayed in the fridge overnight. Accordingly some make it the day before and leave it overnight to “settle”.
  • Fesenjun can also be served cold, especially as an appetizer.
  • How much pomegranate molasses you use depends on the thickness of your molasses and your personal taste in terms of sourness of the dish. Like most people from the north of Iran, I like mine a bit on the sour side.
  • Similarly, how much water to use depends on how long you plan to leave the khoresht on the stove to slow cook. Personally I think it takes a minimum of 4 hours for the walnut oil to be extracted and to come to surface so I put more water than most and leave it to cook for longer.

Ingredients

serves 4-6

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 300g walnut kernels
  • 4 duck breasts
  • 3–4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1 large brown onion
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 3 tsp turmeric
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 Cup Saffron Water
  • 2–3 litres water
  • 1 litre pomegranate juice (optional, can be replaced with more water)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional, slightly lightens the colour of the dish)
  • 2–3 tbsp sugar (optional, for those who like their food sweeter. Will turn the colour of the dish slightly darker. I personally don’t use any)
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

  • Finely chop the onion and the garlic
  • Generously coat the duck breasts in salt & pepper
  • Blend the walnut kernels with some water in a blender. If you don’t have a bender you can also cut/smash the kernels into very fine pieces or grind them.
  • Mix the cardamom with 1 tbsp of the pomegranate molasses, honey, ground black pepper and 2 tbsp of water. Mix and set aside. This is your “duck glaze”.

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes or until golden.
  2. Add the cinnamon and turmeric and stir frequently for 2 minutes.
  3. Add walnut kernels, water and pomegranate juice (if using) to the pot. Bring to boil, cover and let is gently simmer for 4 hours. Stir gently every half an hour or so. The secret ingredient to making delicious Fesenjun is time and patience. You want to add enough water and adjust your heat so that after cooking on slow heat for 6 or more hours, there is still a couple of cups of juice left.
  4. After about 3–4 hours of slow cooking, you will notice that the walnut oil is extracted and comes to the surface. Once this happens, add the pomegranate molasses and the tomato paste (if using); stir to mix well. Cook for another hour so that the colour turns dark.
  5. Once your colour has turned dark, pour the “duck glaze” in a small pan and gently bring to heat, stirring frequently. You do not want this to come to boil.
  6. Pour the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large non stick pan and bring to heat on medium-to-high heat. Add the bay leaf. Add the duck breasts skin down and fry for 5 minutes. Turn over and fry the other side for another 5 minutes. Tip the pan and discard the fat and the bay leaf. Turn over the duck pieces so that they are skin down again. On gentle heat, add the “duck glaze”, coat well let it fry for another 4 minutes.
  7. Tip the contents of the pan including the glaze and the duck pieces into the pot.
  8. Add the saffron water to the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. With the duck pieces in, cook for another 1–2 hours on gentle heat until you get to the desired consistency. You can leave the pot covered or uncovered based on how much water is left in the pot. Stir every half an hour or so. If using sugar, you can add it during the last hour.
  10. Serve with rice.
Albaloo Polo