Recipe

Originating from Iranian royal cuisine, this dish features chicken slowly simmered in a rich, luxurious sauce made from walnuts and pomegranate molasses. It offers a perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and nutty flavors—an indulgent treat for autumn and winter evenings. The Geedel food chopper helps quickly process walnuts and onions, simplifying this otherwise complex dish.

Ingredients:  

- 8 chicken leg pieces  

- 2 cups walnut halves  

- 1 large onion  

- 1 cup pomegranate molasses  

- 2 cups chicken broth  

- ½ tsp saffron threads (dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water)  

- 1 tsp turmeric powder  

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil  

- Salt and black pepper  

- For garnish: Fresh pomegranate seeds, toasted crushed pistachios, mint leaves  

- To serve: Persian long-grain rice (cooked with butter and saffron)

Detailed Steps:  

1. Process walnuts and onion (using Geedel):

   Roughly halve the walnut halves. Using the manual vegetable chopper fitted with the dicing blade, process the walnuts in batches: place them in the container and press firmly 6–7 times until finely ground into a meal-like consistency. Then, finely dice the onion using the same blade.

2. Prepare the walnut paste base:

   In a heavy-bottomed pot, dry-toast the ground walnuts over low heat, stirring constantly for 5–7 minutes until fragrant and deepened in color (be careful not to burn). Remove and set aside.

3. Sear the chicken:  

   Season the chicken pieces with salt, black pepper, and turmeric. Heat vegetable oil in the same pot and sear the chicken skin-side down until golden. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

4. Simmer the stew:  

   In the same pot, sauté the diced onion until translucent. Add the toasted walnut paste, pomegranate molasses, and chicken broth, stirring to combine. Return the chicken to the pot and add the dissolved saffron. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45–50 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened.

5. Serve:

   Arrange the chicken in a deep serving dish and ladle the sauce over it. Garnish generously with fresh pomegranate seeds, crushed pistachios, and mint leaves. Serve with fragrant Persian saffron rice cooked with butter. The sweet, tangy, and nutty layers of the sauce will unfold beautifully with every bite.

Summary:  

This Persian classic relies on the Geedel vegetable chopper to grind walnuts to the perfect texture, making the intricate nut-based sauce simple and manageable. It brings the royal flavors of the Middle East within easy reach of the home kitchen.