Tried this recipe last night and -- overall -- a tasty dish. I’ve had this several times in my favorite NYC Persian restaurant and would like to offer a few suggestions:
1.) In order to balance the potentially overpowering taste of the various spices, include about two tablespoons of lemon juice (or the juice of one lemon) and two or three tablespoons of sugar. This helps balance the flavor and seems more authentic to the dish – I think.
2.) Also, do watch the cooking time. Mine was ready in about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
This is pretty close to the authentic way of preparing the dish. It is, however, an acquired taste.
I have to be careful to rate this for what it was and not how it was received. My husband took 2 bites and was done! My grownup daughter loved it and took home half the leftovers! My younger kids poured a bowl of cereal instead. This is not something to make for the picky eater. You really need to love Middle Eastern food. If you do...like I do.. you will love this recipe! I thought it was wonderful. I did have a hard time fitting it all in a 9 x 13 pan (no way!) I used a larger pan and it still spilled over a bit. I also cooked it much less than the recipe called for and still thought I had cooked it just a few minutes too long. Watch the time carefully. Mine was done with a full half hour to spare and I even cooked it at a little bit lower temp because I was going to be leaving the house. I came home with 30 minutes on the clock and wished I had taken it out about even 10 minutes earlier. I loved the spices. I wouldn't change that as others have said. You will either love it or hate it! If you know what to expect...and are actually looking for this type of recipe...you will rave.
This recipe sounded delicious but I found there are some problems with it. First, the cardamom TOTALLY OVERPOWERED the entire dish. Maybe I used the wrong kind (I don't think so) or it happened because I used the spice rather than freshly ground (also don't think so), but it really took over the entire dish. Second, next time I would use about 1/2 or 3/4 as much walnut, because it made the juice too thick. That part is just a preference. I'm going to try thins again sans cardamom or with just a dash.
This dish is absolutely divine. I leave out the saffron because it is there just for the extra color anyway. I use fresh pomegranates as well--if this dish seems too tart add a few teaspoons of honey molasses or sugar. I also add a teaspoon of cumin and a 1 clove of crushed garlic for more depth. Beautiful this dish is not but once people try it they really love it. If you can't find pomegranates or pomegranate juice you can substitute prune juice or cranberry juice for a similar effect.
Have made this recipe many times. You may eliminate the cardemom, the saffron and the butternut squash and it would still be a wonderful dish.
Interesting change from the usual chicken casserole enjoyed by all the family.
This extraordinary recipe was "A#1" with all of My family and friends who have had the chance to try it! Loved the smell of the spices while preparing it! Since I cannot get pomegranate juice here I used fresh pomegranates and squeezed the juice from them! Great natural taste! this recipe will definitely be added to my "family favorites"!!
This dish is absolutely amazing! This is supposed to be a very difficult Persian dish to make and it was my first time ever making the dish but the recipe is so straight-forward and easy to follow. I used eggplant instead of squash because I didn't have squash and I had seen eggplants in other recipes for Fesenjoon and it worked perfectly.
A very kind friend made this dish for me as a gift. It has an extremely "exotic" flavor brought about surely by the cardamom so I wouldn't recommend this for kids or picky eaters. However the chicken was tender and the sauce (although a horrible drab brown color) was bursting with flavors. I probably wouldn't make this myself again but enjoyed having it made for me.
