Fesenjan is one of the iconic dishes of Persian cuisine, and is one of the best ways to cook duck legs. Chicken or pheasant work well, too, but I love that this recipe was created, thousands of years ago, as a duck recipe.
Fesenjan hinges on two ingredients, one easy to get, one less so: Walnuts and pomegranate molasses.
Walnuts are easy enough to find, but you will need a fancy supermarket like Whole Paycheck, or a Middle Eastern store near you to find pomegranate molasses, although you can easily buy it online.
There is a hack, however, that will get you close: cranberry juice. It’s not the same, but since pomegranate molasses is very tart and reasonably sweet, and so is cranberry juice, it will get you close enough so that you can enjoy this dish without a mad search for the molasses.
Fesenjan, most commonly pronounced “fess-en-JOON,” is traditionally garnished with pomegranate seeds, and pomegranates are typically available in supermarkets from November to January. If you can’t find them, skip it.
My recipe also uses a little saffron, but you can skip that if you can’t find it. Not all fesenjan recipes include it.
Not going to lie: Without the pomegranate seeds and parsley to garnish, fesenjan isn’t the prettiest dish in the world. But the richness of the walnut sauce and the bright acidity of the pomegranate molasses will make you forget how it looks.
(Like this recipe? Try making my stuffed grape leaves as an appetizer to go with it.)
The origins of fesenjan are unclear, but according to Gil Marks’ Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the dish originated near the Caspian Sea, where there are extensive wetlands, and fesenjan became a favorite for the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. The Wall Street Journal has a great article on the history of fesenjan, which may well date back to 500 BCE.
If you are using store-bought duck or chicken, this will come together in about 90 minutes or so. Wild birds will take longer, so be patient: The dish is done when the legs are tender.
And while like most stews, fesenjan is better the day after it was made, it does not freeze well. Eat it within a week.
Fesenjan, Persian Walnut and Pomegranate Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon duck fat or clarified butter
- 3 pounds duck legs (or chicken legs)
- 1 large onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses (see above for substitutes)
- 2 cups walnut halves, toasted and finely ground (about 1/3 pound)
- 2 cups duck stock (or chicken stock)
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron, (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- If the duck is fat, pierce the skin of the legs all over with a needle or the sharp point of a knife; do not pierce the meat. For most wild ducks you won't need to do this. Salt well and set aside.
- In a large sauté pan, heat the tablespoon of duck fat over medium-low heat. Add the duck legs, skin side down and brown slowly, rendering the fat. Remove the legs as they brown and set aside.
- Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent. Return the duck legs to the pan, skin side up. Add enough duck stock, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour.
- Stir in the ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses and the spices. Cover and cook over very low heat until the meat is tender, stirring every 20 minutes or so to keep the walnuts from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and add more stock or salt to taste. You want the stew to be very thick, but not pasty.
- Garnish with pomegranate seeds and parsley and serve with rice.
Notes
Keys to Success
- Duck legs, especially wild ones, can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 3+ hours. This dish can handle long cooking time, so it’s done when the meat is tender.
- If you use chicken, it should only take about 90 minutes total.
- If you can’t find the pomegranate molasses, sub in an equal amount of cranberry juice.
- Serve this alongside Persian saffron rice.
- Once made, this will keep a few days in the fridge. It does not freeze well.
Since I bought whole ducks, can I add duck breasts to your recipe?
Stanley: Absolutely. It will be fully cooked, and I don’t personally like duck breast cooked past medium, but it’ll work fine. That’s what the Persians do.
100% agree about this not being the prettiest dish, especially since I was missing the garnishes. I served it with Persian jeweled rice which helped make the plate a little more interesting to look at though. Great flavors, very glad I gave this one a try.
Finally got around to spatchcock my pintail and I used pomegranate juice boiled down to a very thick syrup.
Was awesome, love the gravies flavors.
Will definitely do again.
Thanks for your awesome recipes.
I just made this using Sandhill crane legs that I precooked in a pressure cooker. To say it was incredibly good is an understatement. I served it to friends who also loved it. I will definitely add this to my list of go-to recipes.
Love the recipe idea, can I spatchcock a pintail and instapot (my kitchen) with pressure or slow cook?
Richard: Maybe? I have not tried that.
Thanks for all of the great recipes. We have some older roosters I’d like to try this on. It sounds great. Would guinea fowl work well? They’re only 5 months old so not too tough. I’ve only cooked 1 so far so I’m still learning them.
Dave: Yes, they will work well.
Thanks again for this Hank. I made 3 batches last night and all were really good. Guinea fowl, chicken and tofu (it feels wrong but we have 2 veggies in the house). I cooked the guinea and chicken for 90 minutes and they were really good. I browned the tofu and put that batch together while the meat was cooking.
On the nutritional info:
Is 678kcal for one serving or the whole dish?
Thanks
Tuffy: One serving, but that’s less than half what you’d get in a cheeseburger and fries.
Thanks. For sure. It just seemed high. But I guess walnuts do add up. Good fats ??
Tuffy: Yes, good fats both — duck fat is among the lowest animal fats in saturated fat, and nut fats are very good for you.
So ironic! I’ve had this marked in Duck, Duck, Goose for ages and just made it last night! So so good! Had no trouble funding the pomegranate molasses.
Honestly, this one will become a staple with goose legs for us.
Hank, can this be done with duck or goose legs that are skinned? Thanks
Michael: Absolutely.
Wow!
Hank, that is one delicious recipe!
Will try the next cold weekend we have here in North Carolina.
Merry Christmas.
Tad
Awesome dish – I love food from this area of the world.
Easy enough to make one’s own pomegranate syrup/molasses, plus healthier: traditionally made without sugar or lemon for a true sweet-sour syrup, but you can add those if you want to suit American tastes.
Just pick or buy several pomegranates (~4 large = ~2 cups juice), take all seeds out, juice them* (or blend gently and strain them), cook juice slowly on stove for 1-2 hours or more, until reduced by 3/4. (So 2 cups juice => 1/2 cup syrup).
*Cooking juice using whole seeds and straining out pips afterwards makes the syrup much more bitter..
Very interesting dish and one I’ve never heard of. I’m reading this on a cold morning and could have it for breakfast. And as always, the photo is perfect.