Pan-fried chicken thighs with an Iranian walnut sauce
Chicken is an easy go-to recipe for mid-week meals but it can get boring at times. Michael Diacono simply pan-fries some chicken thighs and serves them with a Middle Eastern-inspired sauce with ground walnuts, spices and pomegranate.
Rachel Zammit Cutajar
Pan-fried chicken thighs with an Iranian walnut sauce
Ingredients
- 5 chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper
- ½ lemon
- Handful mint
Sauce
- ½ onion
- 2 clove garlic
- Knob butter
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp kunserva
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 3 large handfuls ground walnuts
- 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
- Fresh mint
- Pomegranate arils, to garnish
Method
1.Brown the chicken in a pan with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2.Add the lemon juice and the mint and cook through.
3.To make the sauce, gently fry the onion and garlic in butter until soft and translucent.
4.Add the fennel seeds, cumin and cinnamon and mix well.
5.Add the sesame seeds and chilli flakes.
6.Add one clove of garlic and the kunserva and allow to fry for a few seconds.
7.Add the honey and the pomegranate molasses.
8.Add the ground walnuts and mix well. The mixture should be a little stiff.
9.Add the pomegranate juice and season with salt and pepper.
10.Had a handful of fresh mint.
11.Serve the chicken thighs with a spoonful of sauce and some pomegranate arils for garnish.
This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on TVM on 22 October, 2016.
