Pomegranate molasses is a wonderful versatile ingredient. You can use it in salad dressings, in stews or as I have here, in marinades. It has delightful sweet sour taste. I had been buying it from the supermarket as a 'gourmet' ingredient - but then I discovered a local Turkish shop was selling it for half the price! If you can't obtain it you could substitute either tamarind paste loosened with a little water or tamarind sauce. Failing that, you could use a generous amount of Angostura bitters mixed with a little orange juice. I haven't tried the latter - its just an idea!
Perhaps a little unusually, this recipe includes cooked celery as one of the main ingredients. The idea is to cut the celery into chunks so that it can really be tasted in the final dish. The faintly aniseed flavour of the celery is enhanced by the star anise. If you are lucky enough to buy celery with some leaves then use them to scatter over the final dish.
I designed this dish to work with vegan alternatives to chicken and I cooked a version for my daughter using Quorn pieces instead of chicken.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (substitute firm tofu or Quorn chicken style pieces for vegan alternative)
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or you can use tamarind paste)
1 large onion, chopped
Vegetable oil for frying
4 sticks of celery (chopped into chunks)
2 red bell peppers (chopped into chunks)
200ml of vegetable stock (I used Marigold)
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
3 whole star anise
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or more to taste)
100g bulgur
Celery leaves or parsley to garnish
Method
Perhaps a little unusually, this recipe includes cooked celery as one of the main ingredients. The idea is to cut the celery into chunks so that it can really be tasted in the final dish. The faintly aniseed flavour of the celery is enhanced by the star anise. If you are lucky enough to buy celery with some leaves then use them to scatter over the final dish.
I designed this dish to work with vegan alternatives to chicken and I cooked a version for my daughter using Quorn pieces instead of chicken.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (substitute firm tofu or Quorn chicken style pieces for vegan alternative)
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or you can use tamarind paste)
1 large onion, chopped
Vegetable oil for frying
4 sticks of celery (chopped into chunks)
2 red bell peppers (chopped into chunks)
200ml of vegetable stock (I used Marigold)
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
3 whole star anise
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or more to taste)
100g bulgur
Celery leaves or parsley to garnish
Method
- Marinate the chicken breasts, Quorn pieces or tofu in the pomegranate molasses for at least 2 hours.
- Gently fry the onion, pepper and celery in vegetable oil until slightly softened. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and star anise.
- Simmer the mixture for at least half an hour. partially covered, until the celery and peppers are soft. Add water if the mixture dries out.
- Add the tin of tomatoes, chilli powder and bulgur to the pan and tun up the heat.
- Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste the mixture and add salt, as required.
- Pat the chicken, Quorn or tofu dry. Reserve the marinade. Add a tbsp of vegetable oil to a non-stick pan.
- Fry the chicken, Quorn or tofu pieces on a high heat until they char slightly. The sugar in the pomegranate molasses assists in this process.
- Tip the chicken, Quorn or tofu pieces into the stew together with their marinade.
- Continue simmering the stew until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. Check again for seasoning.
- Serve with celery leaves or parsley scattered over.
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