Motanjan Morghabi

Matanjan Morghabi is a local dish in Gilan Province.
Ingredients for 6 to 7
Duck, 1 no
Ground Walnuts, 5 to 6 cups
Apricot pieces , de-seeded and dried, 250 g
Currants, 250 g
Pomegranates paste, 3-4 tbsp
Sugar, 1-2 tbsp
Salt, pepper, cinnamon and oil, as required
Procedure
Dissolve Pomegranates paste and sugar with a cup of water.
Put the duck and ground walnuts along with a liter of water inside a pot over a low heat. Cook for for 2 hours till the duck is well-done and ground walnuts fill the pot with oil. After the first 1 hour, add a little salt and pepper to the pomegranate mixture.
Heat 2 to 3 spoons of oil in a frying pan over mild flame, sauté dried apricot pieces as well as currants for 3 to 4 minutes and sprinkle in a little cinnamon. Then add the greasy dried apricot pieces and currants to the stew and let it simmer with a half-open lid.
If your pomegranates paste is sweet, you can omit sugar. And if its sour flavour is not sufficient, drizzle in a few spoons of verjuice and lemon juice.
The Stew is usually made with ducks in Gilan but you can also apply chicken. In this case, put the chicken inside the pot 30 to 40 minutes before walnuts are well-done. Otherwise, it will be overcooked and torn apart.