8 Reviews of Fesenjan (Iranian Special Occasion Dish)

From: Chef #178311

On Dec 4, 2004

One of the best persian traditional foods. Garlic, nutmeg, cinammon, or cardamom, and black pepper are not essential, you can cook it without them too. If you don't like it sour you may not add lime juice or add more sugar to taste or even dried plums as they are sweet in the U.S. Make sure to let it cook on very low heat for some time (2-4 hours) for the walnut's oil to separate.

From: FoodLover!

On Nov 11, 2005

This is a very easy dish to make and tastes just like what you order at the restaurant. If you are unable to find pomegranate syrup, you can use pomegranate molasses (same thing), but make sure it does not say "sour" or you will have to add a lot of sugar.

From: ohbother

On Apr 24, 2008

My husband and I used to go to a wonderful Persian/Italian (really Persian) restaurant near our house. We moved, mourned the loss of our wonderful restaurant, and used to stop by anytime we were within an hour of the town it was in. A couple of years later, a restaurant opened in our city, run by the same wonderful people, and we were happy again. Sad to say, the restaurant didn't make it, but the owner gave us a recipe for Fesenjan, which we lost when we moved again. Much sorrow — until we found this one on the 'Zaar!!! It's the same dish!!! It's perfect!!! We haven't been able to find pomegranate syrup or molasses anywhere here, so we substituted the cranberry juice concentrate and used pure pomegranate juice as the liquid in place of the water or stock. The recipe is fantastic, the directions easy to follow and very clear. The only thing I would do slightly differently next time is to see if I can find unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate, and probably add a little more lime juice — we like it really tart. The other thing I have to do is see if I can find a way to reduce the total sugar in this (I'm prediabetic) and maybe a way to skim off some of the walnut oil (not all, but those walnuts really produce a lot of oil through the cooking process). It is fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, and completely perfect with properly cooked basmati rice, saffron, and a roasted plum tomato — just the way our favorite restauarant served it up! Thank you so much KerryBnTx!!!

From: Chef #1071863

On Dec 13, 2008

Nice recipe! To rooster1108 - not sure where you are but all supermarkets in the UK stock these ingredients...

From: Chef #747918

On Jan 31, 2008

This is the best Fesenjan recipie I have ever come across.

From: rooster1108

On Aug 15, 2008

Having never cooked anything like this before just finding all of the ingredients was a challenge! However, my Iranian guest was very impressed and so was I. Thanks, will be trying some more Iranian food.

From: texasgal #3

On Jul 24, 2009

Please omit the garlic, it does not go in this dish. Only north iranian dishes include garlic. I know only to use salt, pepper, cinnamon on this dish and I think saffaron is a waist on this dish unless you use it to decorate the rice.This dish and Khoresht-e-Ghorme-sabzi will always be served when you visit an iranian family. It is a special dish just like our american potroast for example.Those iranian dishes used to be quite labor intensive. Today we can buy many ingredients ready and have a food processor. Imagine shelling and grounding walnuts in your kitchen. As someone mentioned before if you think the dish is too sour add more sugar.There is no right or wrong way to cook it too sour or too sweet. Every iranian has a different opinion about this dish in regards to and sour or sweet. So eat it the way you like it. Serve it with a sugar bowl on the table for those sweet toothed folks.Cook it slowly over medium heat long enough ( ca. 2 hrs or more) until the oil seperates from the sauce and swims on top. Yes this is a heavy dish. I usually cook it in cooler month.

From: 887516

On Jul 30, 2008

blech! nothing compared to my grandma's, but she wont give me the recipie I guess its different because she grew up in northern iran (tehran) and they make it better there.