This wonderful wintery recipe is inspired by Jila Dana-Haeri’s version in her book From a Persian Kitchen. It was love at first make! It’s so lovely and rich that you almost have the idea that you’re eating meat, even though my version is 100% vegan. Khoresh in persian mean ‘meal’, an indication of its centrality, and is a rich sauce made from meat, chicken, fish or, in this case, pumpkin, combined with other vegetables, herbs and spices. You can either serve it with bread or with rice (this saffron rice recipe is prefect!). If you want something different for a cold fall or winter evening, give this recipe a go. I’m sure you’ll fall in love like me!
Ingredients
- 1 pumpkin of 1 kg (about 500 gr emptied and pealed)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Olive oil
- 1 onion
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 200 gr walnuts
- 4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- A small pinch of saffron
- A pinch of sugar
- Hot water
Directions
- Preheat the oven at 200°C.
- Peal, empty and cut the pumpkin in chunks.
- Place them in a roasting tray, sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar and some olive oil. Roast for about 25 minutes until tender.
- Heat some oil in a pan. Chop the onion and fry them golden brown.
- In a food-processor, finely grind the walnuts, add them to the onions and stir well.
- Add the stock and molasses, reduce the heat, cover and simmer.
- Add the roasted pumpkin.
- In a mortar, finely grind the saffron with a pinch of sugar. Add two tablespoons of hot water and let it infuse for 5 minutes. Sieve and add the liquid to the pan.
- Stir well and serve hot with some saffron rice.
