Faloodeh-ye anar

Faloodeh-ye anar or pomegranate sharbats are the origins of quite a few other frozen desserts we are familiar with, particularly sorbet. This particular recipe is adapted from the book Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple by Najmieh Batmanglij. In the book Najmieh uses grape molasses which I couldn't source. In the front of the book there is a wonderful section discussing Persian pantry staples and the ingredients called for in her recipes. Grape molasses is described as a sweetener, used to replace sugar. So in order to more fully understand that ingredient I looked in to it's process. Grape molasses is grapes that are pressed to release their juices and then boiled down to stop the fermentation process and reduce it to a thick paste. I subbed in pomegranate molasses, which is very tangy and not sweet at all but has a great flavor, and grape juice concentrate for flavor and sweetener.

6 c. pomegranate juice
3/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses
1/4 c. grape juice concentrate

In a large pot combine the pomegranate juice, sugar, and lime juice. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar.

Add the pomegranate molasses and grape concentrate. Stir once and remove from the heat. Keep stirring until the molasses is thoroughly mixed in.

Allow the liquid to cool to room temperature and pour in to a casserole dish, or anything wide and flat.

Place in the freezer and allow to freeze for about 2 hours, or until the top is frosted over. Break it up and return to the freezer. Keep breaking it up when it freezes until it is frozen all the way through, should be about 8 hours.

Use a fork to scrape the granite to fluff before serving.