I have been creating so many new recipes, and vegan ones, for my next cookbook, that I needed a break. I made my own vegan version of fesenjan, so I decided to simply try someone else’s. I am writing this as I try it, so, come along with me as I make The Minimalist Baker’s Vegan Lentil Fesenjan. As you may recall, fesenjan is a Persian stew made with walnuts, onions, and pomegranate molasses. Typically, it is made with chicken. My vegan version is made with jackfruit; the recipe will be in the cookbook.

I have been trying to incorporate more lentils into our diet, so I am very excited to try this lentil version. The spices are a bit different, so we shall see.

Hold on while I put up the rice and get the fesenjan started…

I will let you in on one of my time saving tricks – I keep walnut meal (and almond meal) in my freezer so that I can just measure out what I need when I need it. It saves the time of roasting and grinding the walnuts (which is especially nice to avoid in the summer when your house does not have air-conditioning).

Now, the rice is in the Persian rice cooker, the onions are translucent and I have added salt, pepper, lentils, and vegetable broth. But of course, since I read a recipe and then forget what I just read, I put the lentils in before the broth was boiling. So, I will need to watch the cooking time more carefully (i.e. – they may cook quicker once the broth comes to a boil.

The change I am making to the recipe is advieh. The recipe calls for cinnamon, I guess since it is easer to find, but I have advieh, so I will use it for more depth of flavor. I am also going pretty heavy on the pomegranate molasses – 4 generous tablespoons.

So it is cooking now with everything added. The taste so far is pleasant. I am really curious to see how this turns out. Yes, I know, this is the type of thing I do; throw a whole bunch of different flavors into something familiar. But when I do it, I know why I am doing it and have an idea of how it will taste. This is just bending my brain a bit. We shall see…

The verdict…total approval! It has really nice taste and texture. I will be adding this recipe to my lentil rounds.