Persian Style Chicken Curry With Walnuts and Pomegranate - my take on Fesenjan stew - with added veggies!
We have a homemade curry at least once a week at home. I use the term homemade loosely. Sometimes it's completely from scratch (like this one), or if I'm in a really hurry (like 20 minutes until the kid's have a hunger meltdown) I've no qualms with using shop-bought Thai curry paste.
Yesterday, fancying something a little bit different - but without it taking an age, I went back to one of my old posts, and gave the Persian curry I made a bit of a makeover.
Extra veggies (aubergines - yes, I got the kids to eat aubergines!!), peppers and red onion all added in to the classic version and topped with extra walnuts.
If you've never had Persian stew or Fesenjan before, it does sound a little odd. Pomegranate molasses, ground walnuts, cinnamon, chicken and stock, combined with a few other ingredients to make a savoury curry with a light sweetness. Although there are a couple of spices in there, there's no chilli to scare off the kids, so it makes a great curry for everyone to enjoy.
Everyone went back for seconds, and then I caught the kids (who were supposed to be on washing up duty) mopping up the remnants straight out of the pan! So I guess that makes it a winner 🙂
The curry only takes 40 minutes from start to finish - and almost half of that is hands-off time, so it's a good choice for a busy weeknight dinner.
The pomegranate seeds on top, although not vital, add a delicious, fresh crunch to the meal. I topped mine with a few lightly chopped walnuts too.
More Delicious Curry's
Still hungry for more ? How about my;
- Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
- Chicken Madras
- Chicken Rogan Josh
- Lamb Curry
- Thai Green Curry
- Slow Cooked Beef Curry
- Butter Chicken
- Chicken Tikka Masala
All served with Boiled Rice, or Pilau Rice and Homemade Chapattis!
Hope you enjoy the recipe!! If you’ve tried my recipe then please rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing your thoughts and add-ons to my recipes!
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The Persian Style Chicken Curry Recipe:
Persian Style Chicken Curry With Walnuts and Pomegranate
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium brown onion - peeled and diced
- 3 chicken breasts - diced
- 1 red bell pepper - deseeded and sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper - deseeded and sliced
- 1 small aubergine/eggplant - chopped into bite-size chunks
- 90 g whole walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 25 g ground almonds (almonds meal - the grainy type, not the flour version)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp salt
- pinch of ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- zest of half a lime
- 480 ml chicken stock (use bouillon for gluten free)
- 2 tbsp honey
- ¼ cup pomegranate molasses - **
To Serve:
- Boiled rice
- or Cous cous
- Seeds from half of a fresh pomegranate
- Small bunch flat-leaf parsley - roughly chopped
- ½ small red onion - peeled and thinly sliced
- 8-10 walnuts roughly chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan/skillet and add the onions. Fry for 2 minutes and then add the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes, until sealed, stirring occasionally.
- Add the sliced peppers and chopped aubergine and stir. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken and veggies are cooking, place the walnuts in a food processor and blend just until they turn to fine crumbs.
- Add the walnuts, garlic and ground almonds to the pan and cook for a minute. Add in the turmeric, salt, pepper, cinnamon and lime zest, stir and cook for a further minute.
- Add the chicken stock, honey and three-quarters of the molasses. Stir, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste the stew, add more molasses if needed. Cook for a further 5 minutes and then serve on top of boiled rice or cous cous.
- Top with pomegranate seeds, chopped parsley, red onion slices and chopped walnuts.
✎ Notes
I believe in the US, you’d be able to get hold of it at any Middle Eastern or Kosher store. Amazon sells it, and I think you may find it at Walmart. It’s sometimes called pomegranate syrup.
Alternatively there are a couple of ways you can make it at home (sourced from UKTV.co.uk):
1. Squeeze the juice from a large pomegranate then boil the liquid until it has reduced to just two tablespoons.
or
2. Take 3 cups (720ml) pomegranate juice, ½ cup (100g) sugar and ½ cup (120ml )lemon juice and simmer until reduced to 1 cup (240ml). . Nutritional Information is per serving, without serving suggestion of boiled rice or couscous.
Nutrition
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Alicia says
Couldn’t find the ground almold at the store. If I grind some almolds in a food processor would that be the same thing?
Thank you
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Alicia, for this recipes, yes, home-ground almonds should be fine. 🙂
Ari L says
I forgot the molasses does anyone know a substitute ?
Car says
Great recipe. Although I lightly sautéed the ground walnuts for about 5 minutes. Took away the bitterness. It was a delicious meal!
Grace says
I really enjoyed this recipe. I loved all the mixed flavors. I’m definitely trying it again. Thanks
juni says
good, sweet, surprise, goodbye
Viv says
Thank you so much for this recipe, it was delicious! My five year old also loved it -she normally eats around capsicum and had never tried eggplant before, but she gobbled it all up.
saly says
what is a brown onion?
Chris Corbishley says
Hi Saly,
Its what i would call a 'standard' onion 🙂 . They are also sometimes called yellow or white onions too.
Thanks
Chris
Susannah says
This sounds amazing, but I'm allergic to walnuts! What could I replace them with? I can eat peanuts, pistachios, cashews... Or could I use something completely different?
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Susannah - pecans would work, or you could use pistachios or cashews if you prefer.
Ethel says
Can you make this as a crockpot meal?
Chris Corbishley says
Hi Ethel,
We have not tried it in the crockpot but with it being so quick to cook we wouldn't recommend this as a crockpot meal. You could make it ahead then reheat.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Luis says
Looks great!
Can you make this with prawns instead of chicken? Or vegetarian?
Thank you.
Chris Corbishley says
Hi Luis,
You could replace the chicken with Tofu or you could leave out the chicken, cook the sauce and add prawns towards then end as they dont need as much cook time as chicken.
If you do try please let us know how you get on
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Luis says
Great! Thanks very much for the reply.
Luis
Belinda says
I see no curry added????
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Belinda,
The recipe doesn't use an Indian-based curry powder. This Persian-style curry is a sweeter curry and the sauce is made from the turmeric, garlic, ground nuts, salt, pepper, cinnamon, lime, stock, honey and pomegranate molasses.
Stine Mari says
Thank you so much for this recipe, it looks amazing! And also big thanks for the recipe for homemade pomegranate molasses, as I can't find it in the stores here.
Navdeep says
How much would it modify the recipe if I skipped the pomegranate molasses?
Kristene says
I routinely make my own version of pomegranate molasses, just a simple reduction of the juice, nothing else. Juice is carried in the produce section of any supermarket (we have Pom brand here). It can be used as an ingredient in many other dishes, adding a pleasant, sweet-sour and fruity note. LOVE the recipe, thank you!
Molly says
This is a delicious meal! One of my favorite make at home curries! So easy and so full of flavor. I made my own pom molasses and used chicken thighs instead of breast.
Nicky Corbishley says
Very impressed you made your own molasses Molly! Thanks for the comment 😀
Pamela says
This looks like a must for Friday night. If anyone has friends holidaying in TURKEY, ask them to bring you a bottle of pomegranate sauce back. It can be found in any supermarket along side the salad dressings.