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.
2 tbsp. butter, 1 medium brown onion, 3 chicken breasts
Whilst the chicken is cooking, place the walnuts in a food processer and blend just until they turn to fine crumbs. Don't over-blend or you'll end up with walnut paste.
130 g (1 cup) walnuts
Add the walnuts, garlic and ground almonds to the pan and cook with the chicken for 1 minute. Add in the turmeric, salt, pepper, cinnamon and lime zest, stir and cook for a further minute.
2 cloves garlic, 20 g (¼ cup) ground almonds, ½ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp salt, pinch of ground black pepper, ¼ tsp cinnamon, zest of half a lime
Add the chicken stock, honey and three-quarters of the molasses. Stir, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
480 ml (2 cups) of chicken stock, 2 tbsp. honey, 85 g (¼ cup) pomegranate molasses
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 and chopped parsley.
Seeds from half of a fresh pomegranate, Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
Notes
To store in the freezer, allow the Persian stew to cool as quickly as possible, then place in a sealed tub and freeze for up to 1 month (don't add the pomegranate seeds or parsley). Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature, then reheat in a pan until piping hot. Serve topped with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.** Sourcing Pomegranate molasses: 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 750ml pomegranate juice, 100g sugar and 125ml lemon juice and simmer until reduced to 250ml..Nutritional Information is per serving.