Pomegranate Chicken

I have been wanting to make this Pomegranate Chicken for a very long time! I saw this recipe for the first time in 2015 on  THE NOSHER , myjewishlearning.com! That is a long time to want to make something!

I have folders on my Gmail with different food categories…& one day I was going through the chicken folder… & saw this recipe!

The chicken was very tasty. The pomegranate gave it kind of a tart flavour but it was counter-acted by the honey in the recipe. 

I served this for company & they really liked it! There wasn’t many leftovers…so I know they were not just being nice when they said it was good!!

Some changes I made to the original recipe….I used bone-in chicken thighs… I used 16 thighs…This is twice the amount of chicken the recipe called for…I did not double the sauce ingredients. I omitted allspice from the sauce since I don’t think Murray likes allspice1 Also, the recipe says to brown the chicken before baking it with the sauce, but I did not do this… I cooked my chicken until it was nice & brown in the oven..you will see in the pictures!!

Here is the recipe from THE NOSHER..adapted slightly 

Ingredients 

16 Chicken pieces…you can use 2 cup up chickens…or I used bone-in chicken thighs…

oil…. you will use oil to make the sauce & to brown the chicken

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup pomegranate molasses

1/2 cup sweetened pomegranate juice

1/2 cup honey

2 cups broth.. I used vegetable broth since I never have chicken broth around, but you could use chicken broth here

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp powdered ginger

1/2 tsp tumeric

salt & pepper to taste

Method 

Making the Sauce

1. Put the chicken pieces, single layer into a roasting pan …son’t use a dish that has low sides..the sauce fills up the pan a bit to start
2. Heat about 2 tbs of oil in a saucepan
3. Add the chopped onion & cook until the onion is soft & transluscent
4. Add the minced garlic, stir & cook for about 2-3 minuts
5. Now, Add the pomegranate molasses, the pomegranate juice, the honey , broth & spices.
6. Stir well & bring to a boil
7. Reduce the heat & simmer this sauce, uncovered until it is reduced … the recipe said to reduce it by half, but I did not wait that long :))) …. the recipe says to cook it for about 20 minutes …I did not… I wanted more sauce so I just cooked it for about 10 minutes…or until it looked done to me…
8. When it is done, set aside…you will pour this on the chicken
9. You can taste the sauce when it cools a bit & season to taste…add more honey if it is too tart…
10. Pour the sauce over the chicken
11. Bake at 350f until the chicken is nice & brown…Baste the chicken occasionally… I cooked it for about 2 hours… but you can just make sure the chicken is cooked through & remove it when it is to your liking…you will see form the pictures my chicken was really brown.. I left it in the oven until we were ready to eat… it could have come out of the oven sooner!!!

Enjoy!