Khoresh Karafs with Meat and Rice (Persian Celery Stew)

Instruction:

1. To make Persian celery stew, I use fresh celery and fresh herbs. First, I wash the celery and herbs and then chop them after they become dry.

Be sure to pay attention to the amount of herbs, and do not use more than the mentioned amount of mint because mint makes the stew bitter.

You can chop the herbs with a knife or a food processor. If you use a knife, make sure to chop it finely.

If you use a food processor to chop the herbs, I suggest that you put a few drops of oil inside them so that they don’t drip when they are chopped.

2. Now, it’s the turn of the meat. I use mutton thigh. Because mutton is fattier and softer, it makes the stew tastier. It’s better not to chop the meat too finely because mutton becomes smaller when cooked.

3. In the meantime, I take the limoo amani and cut a few slices with a sharp knife. Then, I fill a bowl with water, pour the limoo amani into it, and place a heavy object on it so that the lemons stay well in the water. I let the lemons stay in the water for about one hour to remove the bitterness.

4. Pour 4 to 5 spoons of oil into a frying pan, add the meats, and fry them until their color changes.

5. I fry the herbs and celery in another pan. To do this, I first pour the herbs (mint and parsley) into the pan without oil and heat it until the water of the herbs steams, then pour oil and fry them.

You should not fry too much because it makes the herbs bitter. Note that herbs should be fried gently and patiently on a gentle heat.

6. After the herbs are fried, I do the same with the celery and celery leaves. After their juice steams, I pour oil over them and fry them.

The celery leaves should be chopped, but not very small, like mint and parsley.

You can chop the celery leaves with mint and parsley and fry them together. This is completely tasteful.

7. Now it’s time to make the stew. I peel the onions, wash them, and chop them very finely on the kitchen board. I take a suitable pan and pour oil and onions into it.

After the onions are fried, I add spices to them.

In the first step, I pour turmeric into a pan and fry it a little with the onion until its raw smell is removed. Then, I add black pepper.

I always add salt in the last step when the meat is cooked because the salt makes the meat hard and slow to cook.

8. Now, I add the meat that I fried before, along with the fried herbs and celery, to the onion. To season this stew, I use verjuice and unripe grapes so that it has a slightly sour taste.

But this is completely a matter of taste, and you can use only limoo Amani for seasoning.

9. Then, I add the soaked limo Amani to the rest of the ingredients and finally add boiling water. I put the lid on the pot and increased the heat until it boiled.

The stew is cooked for up to 4 hours. Remember to add salt at the last stage.

10. After the stew is ready, I put it in the dish of my choice and eat it with my family and enjoy it.

What is served with khoresht karafs?

This excellent stew is served with Iranian rice, along with various salads and desserts. One of these side dishes is zeytoon parvardeh, and another is torshi albaloo. Pickled cherries, because of their sour taste, are very suitable for this dish.
Among the Iranian pickles, we can also refer to torshi liteh, which is excellent and appropriate with the chopped pieces of various fruits and eggplants with vinegar. Also, pickles make food digest faster and make you feel light after eating.
You can also use dairy products and drinks with this stew. Dairy products such as Persian doogh, mast o khiar are also used with this dish on Iranian tables.

Nutritional value of Khoresh Karafs?

In general, foods prepared with fresh vegetables are always full of vitamins and many properties. Considering that this stew is made from celery, it also contains celery’s excellent properties.
It has properties such as various vitamins, fiber, calcium, and magnesium.
Also, celery is an anti-cancer plant. A lot of fiber and water present in the stalk of celery can also cure constipation. In general, celery and meat stew is recommended for everyone, from children to adults.

Notes :

• To prepare this stew, choose crisp, fresh celery, and avoid buying celery that is dark green.
  To prepare celery, take its thick leaves, clean them, and arrange the stem and small leaves.
   The amount of mint should be 1/4 of the amount of parsley so that the stew does not become bitter.
• To cook Celery and meat stew, use young, thin celery; do not use green, hard celery. If you are using lamb, you can fry the celery with the lamb at the beginning.
• But if you use veal, it is better to add chopped celery and herbs after an hour of cooking the meat to prevent them from being crushed.
• Be sure to pay attention to the fact that the vegetables used in the stew must be completely dried after washing and then chopped. Otherwise, they will be crushed during cooking.
• If you want to use the tomato paste in the Iranian celery stew, add it after the meat is fried.
• To make this stew more sour, you can use a little ghare ghoroot in this stew.
• Adding too much water to celery stew will make it not glazed enough.