Fesenjan

This is a Persian meat dish with pomegranates and nuts. Typically, people use walnuts but I used almonds and they were tasty. Goes well with Saffron Rice. It's a very tasty dish.

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups walnuts meal (finely ground walnuts)
• 2 small onions, sliced thin 3
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2/3 cup pomegranate syrup of 4 cups pomegranate juice
• 2 1/2 cups stock or water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons saffron (optional)
• 1-2 limes,
• ~1lb seitan
• olive oil

Preparation

1. Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
2. Add onions and sauté until wilted and translucent.
3. Add garlic, cinnamon and nutmeg and sauté, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes. #Stir in walnuts, pomegranate syrup, stock, sugar, salt, pepper and saffron. I didn't add saffron here but had saffron rice instead.
4. Adjust sugar and salt to taste.
5. Bring to a low boil and simmer 1/2 hour.
6. Add chicken and simmer on low heat another 30-60 minutes.
7. Halfway through the cooking time, add the lime juice to taste.
8. The sauce will thicken and darken during this cooking time, and the oil will begin to render out of the walnuts.
9. Add water or stock if necessary to prevent the sauce from thickening too much and scorching.
10. Serve with plain white rice or saffron rice.