De-stress and bring out the chef in you by trying few recipes using dry fruits like walnuts and almonds, lent by experts.

While chef Sabyasachi Gorai has given recipes inspired by California walnut, chef Kunal Kapoor has shared a recipe using almonds and dates:

* Pomegranate glazed chicken with California walnut and pomegranate couscous:

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
1 tablespoon sumac
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of salt and pepper
4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
60ml pomegranate molasses

For the couscous:
160 gm couscous
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
20 ml lemon juice
10 ml pomegranate molasses
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Small bunch of mint, roughly chopped
Seeds from half a pomegranate
80 g California walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Preparation:
Mix together the garlic, sumac and olive oil, season with the salt and pepper and massage into the chicken thighs. Leave to marinate for at least one hour. Once marinated, place the chicken thighs on a barbeque over medium hot coals.

After 10 minutes brush the chicken with the 60ml of pomegranate molasses, continue cooking until sticky and glazed on the outside and cooked right through on the inside. Cook the couscous as per the packet instructions. Meanwhile, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and 10 ml of molasses.

Mix into the couscous along with the pomegranate seeds, fresh herbs and walnuts. Serve
alongside the chicken.

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* Eggplant walnut appetizer dip:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 cup California walnuts
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degree Farenheit. Cut the eggplant in half, and brush with olive oil. Place on baking sheet. Make a small packet of aluminium foil to hold the garlic cloves and the remaining oil; place alongside eggplant. Bake for 35 minutes.

Place walnuts on another baking sheet. Toast five-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Once the eggplant has finished roasting, allow to cool down a bit, then scoop the flesh of the eggplant from the skin. Discard the skin.

Combine walnuts and parsley in food processor; chop. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, honey,
roasted eggplant and garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend in the food processor until smooth. Serve with pita bread.

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*Sweet walnut briouats

Ingredients:
200 gm California walnuts
70 gm sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest of an organic orange
250 gm liquid honey
100 ml water
2 tablespoons orange flower water
16 filo pastry sheets
50 gm liquid butter

Preparations:

Use a mixer to chop the walnuts finely. Mix with sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest and set aside. For the syrup add honey and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for two minutes, remove from heat and let cool. Add the orange flower water once the syrup has cooled.

Preheat the oven to 150 degree Celsius (gas: level 1, convection: 130 degree Celsius). Remove the filo pastry sheets from the package, leave them as a stack, and brush each upper one with melted butter. Place the walnut mass along the narrow side of the pastry, leaving two-three cm space in between.

Roll up the pastry sheets and fold the ends to prevent the filling from running out. Repeat this step for each pastry sheet. Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and brush with the remaining melted butter. Bake for ca. 25 minutes until they are golden brown. Pour over the warm syrup and serve.

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* Badam aur khajoor (dates) ka sheera

Ingredients:
½ cup almonds (blanched and sliced)
15 nos khajoor
500 ml milk
1 tablespoon ghee
2 tablespoon sooji
100 gms khoya

Method:

Deseed the khajoor and using a little milk make a paste out of it. Heat ghee and on slow flame light cook the sooji. Once it turns blonde add milk and cook for three minutes. Add khoya, almonds and khajoor paste and cook till it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Serve hot or cold garnished with almonds.