Fasenjan, Persian Walnut & Pomegranate Chicken Stew

This Persian walnut, pomegranate, chicken stew is something you can cook in ease when you want to impress your guests, or bring some new flavour to your dining table. It will take you one and half an hour to make this dish, and pretty much common ingredients which are already stored in your kitchen cabinets. 

Serves 4 -5 portions 
  
INGREDIENTS
·      1½ large yellow onion sliced thin and fried golden brown in 3-4 TBSP vegetable oil 
·      1 kg skinless chicken drumsticks or thighs (4-5 pieces)
·      200 gr walnut halves (about 2 cups)
·      ¼ cup cold water
·      1 ¼ cup pomegranate concentrate
·      salt
·      freshly cracked black pepper
·      1 orange zest peeled
·      Pomegranate seeds for garnish
·        
PROCESS
1.    On low heat, fry the sliced onions with 3-4 TBSP vegetable oil in until golden brown. Remove from the pot.

2.    Add chicken to the same stockpot, slightly brown it from both side and then top it with the fried onions.
 
3.    Pick through the walnuts for any shells, and add to a food processor and process until it turns to a tan-colored paste.

4.    With the food processor running, add ¼ cup cold water through the feed chute. Continue processing until the paste becomes uniformly beige in color.

5.    Spoon the walnut paste evenly over the fried onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6.    Drizzle the pomegranate concentrate over all the ingredients.

7.    Bring to a boil over medium heat. The pomegranate concentrate tends to stick and burn fairly quickly so avoid high heat.

8.    Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.

9.    Add peeled orange zest. 

10.  Now reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is fork tender and falls off the bone. Stir every 15 minutes or so to make sure the sauce does not stick to the pot. If at the end of this time period the sauce has not thickened enough, leave the pot uncovered for about 10 minutes on low heat for a thicker sauce. Transfer the Fasenjan to a serving dish and sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on top as garnish.

11.  Serve with steamed rice.

FASENJAN – PERZIJSKI PILEĆI GULAŠ S ORASIMA I NAROM

Kada želite impresionirati goste ili unijeti malo promjene na vaš porodični menu, s lakoćom možete posegnuti za ovim receptom. Sprema se u roku od sat i pol, od čega će vam na aktivan rad u kuhinji otići svega dvadesetak minuta. Sastojci su uglavnom bazni i lako dostupni. 
 
Recept je pogodan za 4 – 5 porcija 
 
SASTOJCI 
1 ½ veće glavice crvenog luka, izrežite tanko na kolutove i spremite za dinstanje 
1 kg pilećih bataka/zabataka, bez kože s kostima
200 grama očišćenih oraha (cc 2 šolje) 
¼ šolje hladne vode 
1 ¼ šolja koncentrata od šipka(nara) 
so 
biber
Kora jedne narandže
zrna svježeg šipka 
 
PROCES 
1.    Na laganoj vatri karamelizirajte luk. Izvadite ga u posebnu zdjelicu. 

2.    U istoj šerpici ili dubljoj tavi, u kojoj ste karamelizirali luk, lagano zarumenite piletinu s obje strane. Kada je prevrnete na drugu stranu, odozgo poredajte karamelizirani luk. 

3.    Očistite orahe i spremite ih u food procesor ili blender.

4.    U food procesoru sameljite orahe. Kada su lijepo usitnjeni dodajte ¼ šolje vode i ponovo izblendajte dok ne dobijete svijetlu mazivu pastu.

5.    Pastu od oraha nanesite preko luka. Posolite i pobiberite. 

6.    Prelijte preko koncentrat šipka.

7.    Neka zavri na laganoj vatri. 

8.    Koncentrat šipka može lako da zagori zbog toga je važno da temperatura bude umjerena tokom cijelog procesa pripreme. Neka krčka 15 minuta. 

9.    Nakon 15 minuta dodajte grubo oguljenu koru jedne narandže.

10.Dodatno smanjite temperaturu i krčkajte gulaš 1h 15min. Svako 15 minuta promiješajte kako biste spriječili lijepljenje za šerpu. Cijelo vrijeme kuhajte poklopljeno, sve dok se piletina ne počne odvajati od kostiju a koncentrat ne krene da se zgušnjava. Koncentrat od šipka je prilično gust sam od sebe, ali tokom kuhanja, usljed temperature, će se najprije razrijediti, potom ponovno lijepo zgusnuti. Ako primijetite da je pred kraj kuhanja i dalje previše rijedak, sklonite poklopac 10tak minuta.

11.Poslužite uz kuhanu rižu (ja sam svoju spremila sa safranom) i ukrasite zrnima svježeg nara.