Stew
Fesenjan Stew
خورش فسنجان
The pattern above is ornament, not a photograph of the dish.
- Hands-on time
- 30 min
- Cooking time
- 3 h 30 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Makes
- 4 servings (Estimated)
- Kind
- Stew
- Where it is eaten
- Popular national dishes of Iran
- Serving
- 300 g
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
- walnut kernels, fresh, ground to a paste 350 g
- pomegranate molasses 3 tbsp
- chicken, cut into pieces 700 g
- onion, finely chopped 1 medium
- sugar, to balance the sourness 1 tbsp
- turmeric 0.5 tsp
- saffron, ground and steeped 0.25 tsp
- oil 3 tbsp
- salt 1 tsp
- black pepper 0.5 tsp
Method
Set aside two or three walnut halves for the top, then grind the rest. The finer you grind them, the more oil they release and the better the stew comes together. If you like some texture, grind half to a paste and leave half coarser.
Fry the onion in the oil until golden, add the turmeric and pepper, then the chicken or meat, and turn it until the colour changes on all sides. Lift the pieces out and set them aside.
Put the ground walnuts in the same pot with about 1 litre of water. Bring to a simmer and cook on the lowest heat, uncovered and stirred often, for 1.5 to 2 hours. The paste will darken from pale beige to deep brown and the walnut oil will begin to separate at the edges.
Every half hour, add half a small glass of cold water — some cooks drop in an ice cube instead. The shock helps the walnuts give up their oil, which is what makes the stew glossy rather than grainy.
Stir the pomegranate molasses into a little cold water until it loosens, then add it to the pot with the salt, the sugar and the steeped saffron. Return the chicken or meat.
Cook on low for a further hour, until the stew is thick, dark and a layer of walnut oil has risen to the surface. Taste as it goes: pomegranate molasses varies a great deal in sourness, so adjust with sugar rather than assuming the quantity above is right for your jar.
Serve with steamed rice, with the reserved walnuts on top.
Cook's notes
This is the version most Iranian households cook today, with chicken. Lamb cut small, or small meatballs, are both common substitutes at the same weight. In Gilan, where the dish originates, duck is traditional and the stew is often cooked longer and sweeter; that version differs enough that we treat it as a dish of its own rather than a variation noted here.
Some cooks skip frying the onion and the walnuts altogether and simply simmer everything from the start. It uses less oil and needs less attention, at the cost of some depth in the finished stew.
Walnuts must be fresh. Old walnuts turn the stew bitter, and no amount of sugar will fix it. Press a kernel between two fingers: if it leaves your fingers slightly oily, it is good.
Low heat throughout. Walnut paste catches and burns easily, and a burnt bottom flavours the whole pot.
We consulted authoritative Persian cooking sources to prepare this recipe. Visit them for more detail and for regional variations of this dish.
Sources consulted:
- Ashpazsho — طرز تهیه خورش فسنجان 2026-08-13
- Beytoote — طرز تهیه خورش فسنجان و نکات مهم 2026-08-13
- Fararu — خورش فسنجان مجلسی با مرغ به روغن افتاده 2026-08-13
- Mochmag — خورش فسنجان به روش اصیل گیلانی 2026-08-13
Reviewed: 2026-08-13
Background
Fesenjan is a festive Iranian stew with especially strong associations with the cuisines of northern Iran, particularly Gilan and Mazandaran. Its sweet-to-sour balance reflects regional and family preferences.
Nutrition
| Energy | 455 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 24 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Carbohydrate | 22 g |
Where this comes from
Official documentation strongly supports the dish or geographic attribution, but all recipe fields are not traceable to one dish-specific official recipe page.
Record: IR0003 · Evidence: B (Officially supported)
Open the source page https://visitiran.ir/fa/type/persian-foods