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Fuji Apples
There are many varieties of stews/khoresh in Persian cuisine. Authentically, stews are made of lamb (leg or shank), veal or beef (both, round eye) and rarely with chicken meat. People who prefer not to eat red meat use chicken. Personally, I prefer beef. However, if I am to use chicken, I prefer flavorful thigh meat over breast meat.
Stews are made with all kinds of vegetables, fruits and nuts. In the fruit category there are apples, quince, peaches, plums, apricots, oranges, etc. Each stew has a twist in spices used or combination of other vegetables/fruits/nuts used.
Stew/khoresh is almost always served with Persian rice/ polo.
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This recipe has been featured on a magazine… check out → On The Press
Apple Stew • Khoresh’e Sib • خورش سیب
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
• 3 Fuji apples (my choice) – peeled or not peeled, cored and cut into 6 wedges each
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 230 g/ 8 oz/ 1 medium onion sliced
• 454 g/ 1 lb chicken, boneless, skinless, fat trimmed thighs or breasts, cut
no smaller than 6cm/2.5” square [1]
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/16 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp turmeric (sometimes called poor man’s saffron) 😉
• 1 tsp tomato paste (not more)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (quantity of sugar and vinegar can be adjusted to taste)
• 2 Tbsp yellow split-peas, boiled for 15 min and drained (optional, but adds to the dish)
• 1 bay-leaf
• boiling water
DIRECTIONS
◊ Have a mid-size deep oven-safe dish ready.
◊ In a medium-size deep pot, heat oil on medium-high and fry apple-wedges on both sides until golden. Dish-out into the oven-safe dish.
◊ In the same pot (if no oil left, add 2 tsp oil), on medium-high, add sliced onion and stirring constantly, sauté onions for 2 minutes. Add chicken meat and sear all sides for 2~3 minutes more until browned. Add salt, pepper and turmeric, stirring, sauté for a few more seconds. Empty the pot into the dish with fried apples.
◊ Place rack on middle oven shelf and preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F.
◊ In ½ cup hot water, dissolve sugar and tomato paste and add to meat mixture. Add cooked yellow split-peas, bay-leaf, another cup of hot water and vinegar. Cover dish with foil tightly and bake for 1 hour. Skim off any oil floating on top and serve with Persian rice/ polo.
[1] Option: If beef stew meat is preferred, on high heat, stirring constantly, sauté onions for 2 minutes, add meat and continue stirring for 2 more minutes. Add 2 cups boiling water, bay-leaf and turmeric at this point, lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 1.5~2 hours (same process for lamb and simmer for 1 hour).
Follow the above recipe steps from where meat is added to the fried apples. Add salt and pepper at the time sugar is added. Since there is already some liquid from the cooked meat, adjust the amount of liquid added before baking.
~ نوش جان • Noushe jan ~
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A few important points in making an outstanding Persian khoresh:
♦ Don’t skimp on oil… use as much as needed for frying/sautéing. Boiling oil also cooks and adds flavor. It can be skimmed off before serving.
♦ Brown/sear onion and meat very well.
♦ Adding 1/16 ~ 1/8 tsp of ground saffron, dissolved in 1 Tbsp hot water, will substantially add to taste.
♦ Don’t use too much water for cooking, just enough to steam and condense. –Simmer on low heat for a long time. This helps flavor fusion of ingredients.
♦ Best if stew is made a day in advance and refrigerated for taste to meld.
♦ Almost all stews can be frozen. Exception: If stew includes potato(es), potato pieces to be removed before freezing.
♦ There are red [2] stews (using tomato paste) and green [2] stews (using herbs). Garnishing red stews sparingly with caramelized onion before serving not only further enhances taste but visually enhances the dish.
[2] Slang: ‘red’ and ‘green’ are used to specify types of stews or mixed rices, using tomato paste vs. herbs respectively. This concept also helps host/hostess plan an event menu and serve a balance of reds and greens.
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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I wish I lived near you Fae! I really do. You are the real deal!
That would have been so nice.
Looking through your recipe list to see what to make for dinner tonight, I found this. You really are such a talent!
This dish was on my mind the whole day, we’re having this for dinner tonight! Wish me luck 😀 I have some Persian food fans dancing about in happiness already at the thought! Sharon
How did it turn out? Was their dancing worth it? 😀 )))
Oh Fae!!! I couldn’t wait to let you know what an incredible HIT this beautiful Khoresh’e Sib turned out!!! My boys were dancing all the way!!! 😀 I have never seen them rave and give two thumbs up and let me tell you, I had planned to keep a portion for the next day but guess what – every single bite down to the last drop was licked clean!!! My boys send you their warmest love and greetings! I believe you’re becoming a household name around here Fae 😀 We loved this recipe and it is my first Persian dish success that I pulled off thanks to your wonderful instructions. Hugs so much from a very satisfied crew! Sharon
Wow! So this is what you made with the mountain of Fuji Apples!!!! It looks sooo good Fae! It really is just the sort of homecoming food – a rich stew over a bed of Persian rice…I must show this to Sam just to torture him a bit 😀 hugs, Sharon
A fantastic dinner! I love it all! It sure looks very appealing & pretty to look at too!
Fae,
What is the persian dish where you cook the rice in a pot till the bottom is golden brown then flip it out on a plate (Unbroken if possible) And serve? Do you make that?
Hi Jasmine, Go to Recipe Index and you will find varieties of rice dishes in the Persian Main Dishes.
I am dying for a nice big bite 😀 Cheers Choc Chip Uru
Love the saffron, apple and caramelized onion in this stew. Beautiful. Want to give your recipe a try.
Fae – I made this last night for dinner, and we both loved it!!
It was so easy to prepare and pop in the oven. I followed it almost exactly (and I’m not good at doing that). The only thing I changed was 1) I cut the sugar in half and added 1/3 cup of raisins instead and 2) I took the cover off for the last 15 minutes to reduce the sauce. I might try it with bone-in chicken next time for a bit more chicken flavor. I agree that it would be nice with lamb as well.
A lovely meal – easy to make, healthy and delicious. Served it over plain white basmati.
Gosh!!! this looks very delicious! =D
I think I’ll try this with lamb. What’s funny is that while I was reading this, I was thinking about my dog because some of her favorite foods are lamb and apples, unseasoned of course.
I must say, you have a dog with a very good taste, Samantha! 😀 )))
This dish is much better with red meat. Let me know how it turned out. 😀
Tried this recipe with lamb shank and lamb shoulder (trimmed off some fat) yesterday! Was really delicious! Your instructions and detailed tips helped me out a lot. Thank you.
I love fruit and meat combinations! This is amazing!
Fae, this sounds wonderful…I think I will try it with Lamb!
This looks really good – a great combination of flavours.
Apple stew sounds really good!
Fae, the apple stew looks amazing. The taste must be wonderful. This is such an unique dish.
It looks like it smells rich and aromatic~
I’ve never heard of an apple stew! This sounds delicious!
The aroma of chicken and apples must be wonderful! Looks delicious Fae!!
Delectable! Do love your notes and detailed instructions. As for the saffron rice…
Oh, this looks fabulous. One of the things I love about Persian and other types of Middle Eastern cooking is this delightful blend of sweet and sour using fruits as the sweet part. I do a lot of Moroccan cooking, which tends to use dates/raisins – not apples. I must try this with the apples….
That looks absolutely delicious Fae! Apples in a stew, I’ll have to try that.
I’ve never had this stew before, it sounds delicious.
One word for this post: brilliant! Thank you for much …
OMG you make me SOOOO HUNGRY~