Reviewed: Apr. 17, 2012

Just wanted to let folks know that there is a special product (I live in France and you can only find it at Middle Eastern grocers) that is pomegranate syrup, which is different than pomegranate juice. Think of pomegranate juice that has been boiled down to its essence with sugar added. It has the consistency of maple syrup with a darker color and more intensity. I think that it would be very difficult to find in the US and this could account for the disasters in the reviews.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

laurenita_moore

Reviewed: Feb. 13, 2012

I make Fesenjan all the time (I am iranian) and like the other person I find you are missing a few ingredients. Try adding tumeric, salt and pepper to taste when you brown the chicken, then add a couple of spoonfuls of sugar to taste when you add the pomegranate syrup. Also Pomegranate paste is NOT the same as syrup. If you use paste you need only 2-4 TB as it is thicker than molasses and will be VERY strong. In that case also add an equal amount of ketchup and slightly less sugar. (Paste is usually home-made.) I also prefer the taste of corn oil in this to olive and you will note the oil will be slightly yellow because of the turmeric. You can easily skim oil off if it bothers you. I also cook my onion and walnuts together rather than apart as it keeps the walnuts from burning and is easier to just grind them together in the cusinart.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

000MIMI

Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Jul. 6, 2010

Instead of the paste/syrup, I used a 64 oz bottle of pomegranate juice boiled for about an hour to reduce down it down to 10 ounces. I still needed to put in a little cornstarch at the very end to thicken it slightly, but it worked just fine. I also added about 4 TBLspns brown sugar and 2 tsps each of tumeric and ground cardamom. It was a little tart, but this would have been fixed by adding more brown sugar. Will make it again, and may add in just a little bit of minced garlic with the onions to give it an extra something. (Serve with basmati rice & naan!)

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

MamaChef

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2010

Could not find how to make this. Thanks for the recipe. Regards, Paiman Allage IT Company

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

p_allage@msn.com

Reviewed: Jan. 18, 2010

this is almost the way my father makes this dish its amazing!!!! sometimes depending on your taste you can add some sugar to it but at the very end for some extra taste.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

safari

Reviewed: Jul. 30, 2009

Fesenjun over rice is my alltime favorite Persian dish. My Iranian husband learned how to make this from his father who is an excellent cook. The way they make it is the best. They fry the onion in oil along with the chicken until the onion is tender and the chicken is lightly browned. Then they remove the chicken and onions to a pot. Then walnuts finely ground up in a food processor are browned in the skillet with the remaining oil. Then the ground and browned walnuts are added to the pot of chicken and onions along with around 8-10 ounces of pomegranate syrup, 1/4 cup of sugar (if using Turkish Pomegranate syrup) and about 2 cups of water. Then it is cooked for about an hour until the water cooks down and it is thick and the chicken breasts are starting to pull apart and then it served over rice with a dollop of plain yogurt on the side. YOU SHOULD NOT USE POMEGRANATE PASTE OR JUICE! It should be Pomegranate SYRUP and you have to pay attention to where the syrup is from. If it is Iranian pomegranate syrup you probably won't have to add sugar unless you want it to be sweeter. Turkish Pomegranate syrup is more sour so you will probably want to add sugar. You can make this dish sweet, sour or sweet & sour depending on your taste as it is made in these various ways in different parts of Iran.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
25 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

BigBangfan

Reviewed: May 17, 2009

I love Fessen Jan! I gave it four stars because it an be perfect with a couple tweaks: I add about 1 tsp. of turmeric to the onion while it is frying. I also use (1) 16 oz. bag of walnut pieces, which renders more than 1 cup. I pound my walnuts with a hammer to make them as fine as possible (and I don't have a food processor so I really do not have a choice!). I use 2 small game hens if they are on sale; if not, I use 1 lb. of chicken pieces with the skin on. I boil the meat, take it out when finished, and use that chicken stock as my liquid base for the Fessen Jan. If it needs more liquid, I just add chicken broth, never water. Then, into the liquid base I add: the onion/turmeric mixture, the finely ground walnuts, about ½ c. sugar, and the bottle of concentrated pomegranate paste/juice. I do not use the full 10 oz bottle, maybe about ¾ of the 10 oz. bottle. I bring it to a boil, reduce heat to about a 3 or 4 on the stove, and let it simmer for about 2 hours. When finished, add the chicken or game hens. Here are the secrets to the best Fessen Jan: 1. Make sure the walnuts are ground so fine that when you handle it, the mass of ground-up walnuts is almost like play-doh; 2. According to some of the best Iranian cooks I know, the darker the sauce, the better. This is accomplished by using almost all of10 oz bottle of concentrated pomegranate juice/paste. My father, who is Iranian (and a darn good cook, I might add!) told me that back in the day when he was growin

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
5 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

shireen95

Reviewed: Jan. 24, 2008

this recipe is good, but i would like to give you some suggestions:1. this dish is lackingsugar, this dish is usually served sweet and sour 2. you can also use meatball instead of chicken 3.once i made this dish for a vegeterian friend of mine, i went to the vegeterian section of supermarket and found vegeterian Swedish style meatballs and used instead of chicken, it turned out great.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

zahra

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Mar. 6, 2007

I am Iranian,and I find this recipe missing sugar. There are different versions of this dish in Iran; at North people make it tart, in Tehran it's more sweet and in west they make it sour and sweet. I personally like the latter. For having that fabulous sour & sweet taste you need less pomegranade paste and some sugar (usually 2-3 spoon sugar for 5-6 spoon paste for 2 lb chicken) Though it depends on your taste. Anyhow I thought you might find it work better for you.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
42 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Halo

Reviewed: Oct. 9, 2006

I doubled the recipe for guests, but used the same amount of pomegranate juice as for the single recipe. I used water and vegeta seasoning (as I'd run out of stock) for the remainder of the liquid. It turned out GREAT. I was slightly concerned no-one would try it out, since it has an unusual appearance if you're not used to cooking with ground nuts, but I guess my friends are used to my wild culinary experiments, and they went for it. It was the most favoured part of the meal, together with the Syrian beans I made from AllRecipes. They loved it, and I did too... And it's so amazingly easy!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful