Fesenjoon (Persian Chicken)

Ingredients:

250g (2 ½ cups) walnut halves
2 ice cubes
125ml (1/2 cup) pomegranate molasses, plus extra to taste
1 tbsp concentrated tomato purée
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra to taste
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
800g (1¾lb) chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed
Fresh pomegranate seeds, to garnish (optional)
steamed rice, to accompany

Method:

Grind the walnuts as finely as possible in a food processor until they have the consistency of peanut butter and the walnut crumbs are starting to stick together like a dough.

Transfer the ground walnuts into a large, lidded, casserole dish and pour over 1 litre (4 cups) cold water. Bring the mixture to the boil, cook for 4–5 minutes, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Continue simmering the walnut mixture, half-covered with the casserole lid, for 2 hours, adding 200ml (2/3 cup) cold water and 2 ice cubes after an hour. Stir occasionally, throughout cooking, to ensure that the walnuts don’t stick to the bottom of the casserole. After 2 hours, the walnut sauce should have thickened and darkened in colour.

At this point stir in the pomegranate molasses, tomato purée, cinnamon, sugar, salt and pepper until well combined. Return the mixture to a simmer.

Now add the chicken thighs, return the mixture to a simmer, place the lid on the dish and cook gently over a low heat for 1 hour. Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes of cooking to allow the sauce to thicken. Season, to taste, adding more sugar (for sweet) or pomegranate molasses (for sour).

Garnish the dish with a handful of pomegranate seeds and serve with steamed rice.