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Halal-conscious recipe

Fesenjān with Halal chicken

Nadiya Ziafat's fesenjān from northern Iran with Halal chicken: ground walnuts simmered for an hour into a rich paste, sharpened with pomegranate molasses and saffron, and finished with turmeric-browned chicken thighs.

  • Cuisine Persian
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 8 portions
  • Time 1h 28m
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Green beans, carrots and potatoes layered in a metal tagine base, ready to cook
Photograph from our ingredient library: vegetables layered in a tagine before cooking, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: Ridouan Red · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why Halal checks matter here

The stew is 1 kg of chicken thighs, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds; everything else in it is walnuts, pomegranate molasses, onion and spices.

Fesenjān is a sweet-and-sour stew in which finely ground walnuts are simmered with water for an hour until their oil rises, then sharpened with pomegranate molasses and scented with saffron. Chicken thighs browned with onion and turmeric are warmed through in the sauce at the end. The source says the dish originates from northern Iran and is popular at Iranian family celebrations such as Yaldā Night. The ingredient that needs a Halal source is the chicken.

It follows Nadiya Ziafat's fesenjān for BBC Good Food, which serves eight. Stir the walnut paste often while it simmers, as the source says.

Scatter with pomegranate seeds and parsley, and serve with rice.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Chicken thighs Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.

Safe substitutes

  • Chicken thighs of unknown slaughter → 1 kg Halal skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Allergens

nuts (walnuts)

Ingredients

Walnut sauce

  • 500 g walnuts
  • 900 ml water
  • 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1½ tbsp demerara sugar (optional)
  • ½ tsp saffron
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)

Chicken

  • for frying olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 kg Halal skinless, boneless chicken thighs

To serve

  • 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • to serve parsley leaves and cooked rice

Method

  1. Make the walnut paste. Blitz the walnuts in a food processor until fine, getting rid of as many chunks as you can. Slowly add the water until you have a watery paste.
  2. Simmer the walnuts. Tip the paste into a large saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring often, until the walnut oil rises to the surface.
  3. Cook the chicken. Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the turmeric and stir for 30 seconds, then add the chicken and season. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring until browned all over, then cover and cook for 10 minutes more until the juices run clear.
  4. Finish and serve. Stir the pomegranate molasses into the walnut paste and taste, adding the sugar if you prefer it sweeter. Mix in the saffron and cardamom, if using, and the chicken, and warm over a medium heat for 5 minutes until heated through. Scatter with pomegranate seeds and parsley and serve with rice.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Fesenjān' by Nadiya Ziafat, which says the dish originates from northern Iran (serves 8: 500 g walnuts blitzed fine and loosened with 900 ml water to a watery paste, brought to the boil, then covered and simmered 1 hour, stirring often, until the walnut oil rises; meanwhile 1 finely chopped onion fried in a drizzle of olive oil until golden, about 5 minutes, ½ tsp ground turmeric for 30 seconds, then 1 kg skinless, boneless chicken thighs seasoned and browned 5 minutes and cooked covered 10 minutes more until the juices run clear; 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses stirred into the walnut paste, with 1½ tbsp demerara sugar if you like it sweeter, ½ tsp saffron and ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional), then the chicken warmed through 5 minutes; scattered with 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds and parsley and served with rice). We specified Halal chicken thighs; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Fesenjān — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Nadiya Ziafat, who says the dish originates from northern Iran. Serves 8, prep 8 minutes, cook 1 hour 20 minutes: ground walnuts and water simmered covered 1 hour until the oil rises; onion, turmeric and chicken thighs browned and cooked covered; pomegranate molasses, optional sugar, saffron and cardamom stirred in with the chicken; pomegranate seeds, parsley and rice to serve. We specified Halal chicken.

  2. Chicken analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    What makes chicken Halal: the slaughter.

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