on Mar 14, 2021, Updated Aug 11, 2023 You can try some Middle Eastern recipes: Mutabal, Black Bean Hummus, Falafel, and Za’atar.
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Middle Eastern Pomegranate Molasses is deep, dark red, fruity, tangy, and musky. It is naturally vegan and gluten-free. This molasses enhances various dishes with a fruity, earthy, and tart flavor. Although it is available in stores, making it at home has many benefits. For the best result, try to use freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. But if you are pressed for time, get the juice from the store. Make sure nothing is added to the juice. Traditionally, sugar and lemon juice are not added to pomegranate molasses. It’s only the pomegranate juice that is reduced. But, sometimes, the pomegranate we get is not very sweet and juicy. Hence, I like to add some sugar. You can skip it. Now, cut the pomegranate in half using a sharp knife. Keep a large bowl on the kitchen counter and hold half the pomegranate over the bowl with the cut side down. Now, start hitting the pomegranate with something heavy. I used my rolling pin, but you can also use a meat tenderizer. Keep rotating the pomegranate as you go. The arils will start to fall in the bowl. Keep hitting until all the seeds are collected in the bowl. Take a few seeds out using your fingers if they are still left. Deseed all the pomegranates in the same manner. Now transfer the arils to the large jar of a high-speed blender and pulse until the arils are just broken. Do not grind too much; otherwise, the hard part of the seeds will also cause bitterness. Pass the juice through a mesh strainer and keep pressing it with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the leftover. Cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens up. Remove the foam that collects on top while cooking using a slotted spatula. Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid the molasses burning from the bottom of the pan. The last 10-15 minutes of cooking are crucial. The molasses cooks very fast at the end and sometimes becomes hard after cooling, so be very vigilant. Do a spoon test to check if it is cooked to the perfect consistency. Dip the spoon in the molasses and trace a line across the back of the spoon with your fingertip. If the line remains visible, it is cooked perfectly. Keep in mind that the molasses will thicken further upon cooling. You will get 1 to 1 ¼ cups of cooked molasses from 5 cups of juice. Remove the pan from the heat and let the molasses cool down for 10 minutes. Transfer it to a clean glass jar and refrigerate it until use.
