Rob’ eh anar, or pomegrante syrup (also referred to as pomegranate molasses or concentrate or paste) is a staple ingredient in Persian cooking. My mother has never made it herself from scratch and since her mother’s time, she tells me, the custom has been to just buy store-bought. I geeked out therefore when I found out that friend and intrepid cook Suzanne makes her own and got her recipe, which I’m delighted to share with you – as you see above – in her very own words. Thank you Suzanne!
Homemade is best but there’s something to be said about the convenience of store-bought as well. Caveat emptor: the flavor and color of roe’beh anâr varies somewhat significantly from brand to brand.
After experimentation with various labels, my mother swears by the Golchin brand which she finds to have just the right balance of sweet and tangy flavor. She also likes its rich dark color, specially for making fesenjoon.
Myself, I use the Cortas brand, and, whoa Nelly, it is super tangy, but I don’t mind, and I like the fact that it is made without sugar. I just use it sparingly, and if I lose my head and go overboard, compensate with adding some sugar to balance the flavor. The color is alright. No complaints.
Point being: try a few till you find a brand you can see yourself growing old with.
The famous khoresh ‘eh fessenjoon, made with crushed walnuts and pomegranate syrup, will be posted next and that will (finally!) conclude our all-pomegranates-all-the-time programming around here and instead will switch to barraging you with all-Norooz-all-the-time coverage.
If all goes well, I hope to have some special recipes for you (maybe sholeh zard) and to also share things like “shaking your house”, “fire-jumping”, growing grass and then callously throwing it out in a fortnight, getting gold and giving respect, and of course, making a spread of the Seven Persian Seen’s, and the food, oh all the glorious food. All part and parcel and among the threads that together, since ancient times of ‘yore, have made up the traditions and celebration of the first day of spring and seeing in a new year in Iran.
Until then, zubizubizou
Very nice post and thank you for the shout out. It is so easy isn’t it, I always bought my pom molasses never thinking to make my own. It is so easy and so good I never buy it anymore. Can’t wait for the fesenjoon recipe, one of my favorite Persian dishes.
Think I might’ve mentioned before that I always had a bottle of pomegranate syrup in the fridge for particular sauces. Here I’m not sure if I could buy it. And had never thought of making it.
-I’m glad there are number of brands “to grow old with”. 🙂 I can’t handle too much tangy so I use Sadaf brand, which is just the right amount of sweet/sour for me and the color is good too.
[…] * For a homemade pomegranate-syrup recipe & recommendations re store-bought brands, please refer to this post. […]
Yum! Yum! Yum! I would love to make homemade. I like both tangy and not as tangy. Love your post and Suzanne, Fae and Johnny! You are all wonderful 🙂
my local supplier of cortas in west london has rcently been selling the 10oz. bottles with added SUGAR; a real down-grading of a previously quality product.
Hi Stephen,
That really is too bad. I hate when a trusted product goes rogue on one. Maybe try making your own??
I make my own pomegranate syrup to use in desserts, but never actually thought about reducing it down further into pomegranate molasses… fantastic idea! Simple, now that I think about it! Thanks to both of you for sharing a great concept…. and Azita, I’m so happy to have found your blog! I LOVE Persian food… it’s one of my favourite cuisines in the entire world. I’ve enjoyed discovering your modern interpretations so far. You have a new follower 🙂
Hi Laura! Apologies for delayed reaction but I gifted myself to a couple days entirely off the grid as a Persian New Year treat.
I’m so happy to hear that you like Persian food. It is a testament to your good taste. 🙂 If you want a recipe for a favorite dish or have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
BTW, am really intrigued by the idea of using pomegranate syrup in desserts! That sounds very interesting. Do you have any of those desserts already posted on your blog? Would love to check them out.
Anyway: very nice to meet you and I’m thrilled to have you reading this ol’ blog.
Aw, that’s so generous of you Azita! And happy Persian new year! I have a couple of pomegranate recipes on my blog but not many of my desserts as yet. There’s this salad which uses pomegranate molasses and seeds: http://laurasmess.me/2012/12/16/quinoa-salad-with-preserved-lemon-pomegranate-and-mint/ and I have a tart with a reduced pomegranate rhubarb compote: http://laurasmess.me/2012/05/21/frangipane-tart-with-rhubarb-pomegranate-compote-and-pistachio-crumble/ I also make a pomegranate curd and a pavlova with pomegranate syrup, mint, cream and pistachios. Will have to post the recipe soon! Lovely meeting you, can’t wait to chat more about your amazing food as I read more of your posts x
I just checked out your linked recipes! Oh. My! So beautiful and inventive. Truly inspiring. Hope to spend some nice quality time reading your archives. And can’t wait till you post your pomegranate and pistachio pavlova!
Thanks so much beautiful, I really appreciate your encouragement – it means a lot! I will definitely post the pavlova recipe soon. Plus, I’d love to do some adaptations of your recipes and link you in… so, so excited to have found a source of beautiful, fresh and inspiring Persian food! x
Thank you Laura! I’ll look forward to the pavlova and your adaptations!
Hi! I was wondering how to extract pomegranate juice from actual pomegranates? I want to make fesenjan but I live in south america, and can’t find bottled pomegranate juice or molasses…but i do have pomegranates! any suggestions are appreciated. my friends here are excited to try it!
Hi Gigi! How fun that you want to make fesenjoon! I heartily encourage you to do so.
I hope you have a blender as that’s the easiest method to make pomegranate juice. First of course seed the pomegranate (explained here: https://figandquince.com/2013/02/18/pomegranates-anar-persian/)
Once you have the seeds, pulse them in a blender with a few short bursts – do not pulse it too long. (If you have a lot of seeds, don’t dump them all at once in the blender – juice them in a few batches instead.)
Finally, put a very fine mesh sieve over a bowl and strain the juice to catch all the scraggly bits. You can push against the sieve to cajole as much juice out of the pulp as possible.
Once you have the juice, you can move on to the step of making the syrup as explained in this post
OR … here’s a wild thought:
just order a bottle of pom syrup online! ha ha. That’s what all Iranians do anyhow. Honestly, as much as I’m a proponent of doing things from scratch, this is an instance where I really encourage you to opt for ready made. Amazon sells all kinds of them: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=pomegranate+syrups&tag=googhydr-20&index=grocery&hvadid=13351287715&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1333595452141614016&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_3yd3izxv91_b
Either way do let me know how the “rob” and fesenjoon turns out. Would love, love, love to have pix and details.
Good luck! (If you have any other questions, shoot me an email to Fig @ figandquince dot com)
thank you for your help! i’ve never juiced pomegranates before but perhaps i will give it a try until the pom syrup arrives from the far away lands. merci 🙂
🙂 Re: giving it a try I’ll have to say: why not! Practice makes perfect and if you master this you can make wonderful smoothies with fresh pomegranate juice. Actually after responding to your question I made mental note to juice some poms myself just to make smoothies.
Keep in touch and let me know how the fesenjoon turns out and let me know if you have any other questions.
dorood to you in faraway land 🙂
azita jaan i did have one more question! sometimes when i’d make fesenjoon my chicken would turn out tough and dry after so many hours cooking…what’s your call on this? i’m struggling to get my mama’s smoothly delicious fesenjoon with tender juicy chicken… hallelujah for pomegranate season!
Hi GG jaan! Let me consult with the executive chef, also known as Maman, and I’ll get back to you. Stay put!
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[…] after Azita posted a delicious recipe series on this unique fruit, including instructions to make homemade Roe’beh Anâr (Pomegranate molasses). And that was it. We were blogging friends… which later turned into […]
[…] Fari and Azitd at Fig and Quince. They post about Persian cooking and various other very interesting bits. Check out their post on how to cook the perfect Persian rice and pomegranate syrup. […]
[…] the DIY affecionados and purists at heart, here’s a simple formula of making your own pomegranate syrup (rob’ eh anar), straight from apuginthekitchen: reduce pomegranate juice by boiling it for […]
Aziz Azita 🙂 I wonder if you can help me: I was just scanning through the web, looking for recipes with lavashak. Just found recipes for making lavashak… And then I came here for inspiration. It’s because my mother brought me a ton of Anar-Lavashak from Tabriz. Unfortunately it is not the homemade variety (by that I mean made by my grandmother who dries her lavashak in the hot summer sun). While it is still better than anything I can get here, the taste still lacks a little and is too tart to be eaten solely (at least for me). Usually I like tartness but there has to be more flavor to keep me eating. Now I don’t want to get it old and spoiled. Any idea on recipes? That would be awesome! Can I melt it back into rub’ and then use it for fesenjoon? What do you think?
Sharareh joon, what an interesting dilemma! My suggestion is to chop it up and use it in a salad with walnuts and toasted pistachios; or mix it chopped up with piyaz dagh to cramaelize it a bit and then use it as sauce for a rich meat dish. But I don’t know if you can reverse engineer it back to rub, ha ha! Or maybe you should try and report pack. And boy oh boy, just typign lavashak anar makes my mouth water! Let me know what you end up doing and how it turns out. xx
azita
Cheyyli mamnuun, Azita 🙂 so nice how fast you answered. The suggestions are really good, I’ll definitely report back. Concerning the reverse thing I can already tell… didn’t actually work out… 🙂 (no melting back and taste got weird) But I can meanwhile recommend also something: Again chop the lavashak and toss it on some porridge with a dash of cream and maple syrup. This one is a sweet use and was very delish in the morning. xo Sharareh
[…] the DIY enthusiasts and the purists at heart, here’s a simple formula of making your own pomegranate syrup (rob’ eh anar), straight from apuginthekitchen: reduce pomegranate juice by boiling it for 15 […]
[…] the DIY enthusiasts and the purists at heart, here’s a simple formula of making your own pomegranate syrup (rob’ eh anar), straight from apuginthekitchen: reduce pomegranate juice by boiling it for 15 […]