Khoresh Karafs or sometimes called Khoresht Karafs is the Persian celery stew. Karafs in Persian means celery, and Khoresh or Khoresht means stew. You can find more delicious stews like Khoresh Fesenjoon in Cooking County. Khoresh Karafs is made of fresh celery stalks, meat, and fresh herbs like mint and parsley. Khoresh Karafs is flavourful and has a sour and salty taste because of the verjuice. Celery stew is served with rice (Kateh).

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Khoresh Karafs ingredient

Two main ingredients of Khoresht Karafs are celery and verjuice. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Celery

Celery is a vegetable known for its effect on weight loss. According to healthline.com, adding celery to your diet has five health benefits:

“It is a great source of important antioxidants,
It reduces inflammation,
Celery supports digestion,
It is rich in vitamins and minerals with a low glycemic index,
Celery has an alkalizing effect.”

Verjuice

Verjuice is the ripe grape juice and is called Abghoreh in Iran. It has a sour flavour. Verjuice is used in some Persian foods like Shirazi salad as a dressing and Khoresh Bademjan. You can find it in middle-eastern shops. If you can not find it, use dried lime (limoo Amani) or lemon juice in Khoresh Karafs.

khoresh karafs recipe

For making one-pot Khoresh Karafs, chop one medium-sized onion into small pieces. Saute them in a pot with four tablespoons of vegetable oil till making them golden.
Then add 250 gr boneless beef or lamb with one teaspoon of turmeric to the onion. Saute them till making the meat brown.
Chop 100 gr parsley and 50 gr mint finely. Add chopped fresh herbs into the pot. Then heat and stir them for 5 minutes.
Chop 500 gr celery stalks into the size you prefer. Add pieces of celery into the pot, heat, and mix them for 5 minutes.
Add two cups of boiled water and one tablespoon of tomato paste into the pot. Cover the pot, and let them cook for 2 hours on low heat.

6. After 2 hours, the meat should be tender but hold its shape. If the meat is cooked, add 3/4 cup of verjuice and one tablespoon of salt. Stir gently, cover the pot, and let them cook for half an hour on low heat.

7. Taste the stew; if it needs, add verjuice or salt. If Khoresh Karafs is too watery, heat it till you want without a lid. Our delicious food is ready!

How to serve Khoresht Karafs

Khoresht Karafs, like other stews, is served with rice or kateh. Pour stew on the rice and enjoy your dish!

For garnishing the rice, use bloomed saffron, and make saffron rice. Shirazi salad is a fantastic side dish with Khoresh-e-Karafs.

Note for Khoresh Karafs

Buy verjuice from middle-eastern shops. If you can not find it, use four dried limes. Pierce them with a fork, and add them to the stew. When the limes are soft, press them to release their juice. Also you can use 1/4 cup of lemon juice instead of verjuice.
You can use celery herbs as well. Chop the fresh ones nicely, and add them with fresh herbs to the stew.
You can freeze Persian celery stew.
To reheat the stew, add half a cup of water and put it on low heat.

Did you make this recipe?

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