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Pomegranate

Fruits · Other fruit

Pomegranate

Leathery red fruit packed with jewel-like seeds (arils); sprinkled over salads, rice and dips for sweet-tart crunch.

Also called: pomegranate seeds, pomegranate arils, nar, anar, granada

17 recipes with it

Photo: Augustus Binu : flickr, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

What it is

Pomegranates are round, red-skinned fruits whose inside holds hundreds of juicy red arils (seed sacs) separated by bitter white membrane. The arils are the edible part; the seed inside each is crunchy. Pomegranate molasses is the juice boiled down to a sour syrup, and anardana is dried seeds.

Punica granatum

How it’s used

  • Arils scattered over salads, fattoush, hummus and rice
  • Juice in drinks and marinades
  • Garnish for raita, chaat and desserts
  • Used in Persian fesenjan alongside walnuts

Characteristics

Taste
Sweet-tart and juicy.
Texture
Juicy arils with a crunchy seed.
When cooked
To extract arils, halve and tap the skin side firmly with a spoon over a bowl, or break apart under water. The juice stains.
Sold as
fresh, liquid, dried
Cooking uses
Usually eaten raw, Used as a garnish

Storage

Refrigerated. Whole fruit keeps a week at room temperature or longer in the fridge; arils keep a few days chilled or can be frozen.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
83 kcal
Protein
1.67 g
Carbohydrate
18.7 g
Fat
1.17 g
Fibre
4 g
Sugars
13.67 g

USDA FoodData Central: Pomegranates, raw.

Related ingredients

Recipes with pomegranate

See all 17

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