Khoresht Karafs Recipe, Delicious persian celery stew

Khoresht Karafs is a Persian stew made with celery and parsley. This stew is gorgeous, fragrant, and super delicious. And like most Persian stew, it takes a bit of time to assemble but the key is to let it simmer and slow cook to perfection.

Most people prefer Qormeh Sabzi to Karafs stew but if you cook it based on this recipe in Cookery Magazine, I promise they will change their mind.

Khoresht Karafs Ingredients 🍽️🧉🍴

Celery stew is one of the authentic Iranian stews, which is prepared from chopped lamb or veal thigh meat or chicken and turkey thigh meat, and celery.

Celery stew can be flavored with mint, parsley, and various spices, such as turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, saffron, onion, garlic, leek, cumin, salt etc. to flavor celery stew and vary the taste.

The important thing in choosing spices is to combine them with the type of celery you have and pay attention to the balance in the taste of celery stew.

Some add beans according to taste. You can also use lime to increase the taste and aroma of the stew.

Celery stew takes a lot of time to settle down compared to other stews.

Fresh chopped parsley	500 g
Celer, cut into 1-inch chunks	500 g
dried Mint	3 tablespoons
large Onion, finely chopped	1 large
black pepper	1 teaspoon
turmeric powder	2 teaspoons
Lamb meat, cut into cubes	750 g
water	4 cups
salt	2 teaspoons
lemon juice	1/4 cup
vegetable oil	as needed

How to clean and wash celery to prepare Khoresh Karafs 💧🧴✨

The first step in how to prepare celery stew is to clean the celery, for which there are different ways. Here are some ways to clean celery to make celery stew:

We separate the celery leaves from their stems and wash them. Let the water cover the leaves completely.

We take the top and bottom of the stems.

How to cook celery stew

First, prepare your herbs and celery. So, add a bit of vegetable oil into your pot and sauté your celery which you’ve cut each about an inch in length until it has a golden brown color.

In the meantime start preparing your parsley. add 500 grams of your finely chopped parsley to another pot and dry frying it for about 7 to 10 minutes. During this process, a lot of the extra moisture from the herb will evaporate.

Then, add about half a cup of vegetable oil to it. And fry your parsley for about 5 minutes until it has dark green and beautiful color.

Now, add your fried celery to your parsley pot and turn off the heat. Next, Add dried mint. (Make sure you add mint after you’ve turned off the heat because if you over-fry, it will make your stew bitter). When your vegetables have been prepared, let’s prepare the meat.

To avoid wasting oil, In the pot you’ve fried the celery, add a chopped onion and sauté it until the pieces have softened. Then add turmeric powder and black pepper.

And give it a little mix. To it add your boneless lamb cubes. Once the meat is brown, Pour about 1 liter of water and season it with salt. Give everything a nice mix and leave it to simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Final step for cooking Khoresht Karafs

In this step, add your pre-prepped fried vegetables to the meat and stir them together. Again cover the pot, lower the heat and leave to simmer for about 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Actually, the longer you allow your stews to cook not only would the flavors develop but the consistency will be perfect and the end result will be very delicious Khoresht Karafs😉

Your Khoresht Karafs is ready to be served! Give it a nice and gentle stir and before turning off the heat, pour a little bit of lemon juice then serve it along with Persian steamed rice.

You must serve Khoresht Katafas along Persian rice and Doogh as drink.

Golden tips for having the best celery stew

What can be done to make celery stew tastier?

To cook the stew, let it cook slowly for about 45 minutes.

If you don’t like the celery to be seen in the stew, you can chop it smaller.

Roasting celery with butter makes the taste of the stew much more delicious.

Add the amount of water as we told you in the recipe and ingredients to the stew and avoid adding too much water.

Before adding the chopped celery to the stew, soak it in salted water or lemon juice and drain it to get rid of its bitterness.

It is better not to fry parsley together with other vegetables and add it to the stew in the final stages of cooking so that it does not lose its unique flavor and aroma.

Choosing fresh and high-quality celery is one of the most important and effective factors in preparing delicious celery stew. Use thin, young celery stalks. Dark green and hard stems are not suitable for preparing this delicious Iranian dish.

Since veal takes longer to cook than mutton, as we explained in the recipe, let the veal cook for about an hour and then add the celery and vegetables. But if you use mutton, you can add roasted celery immediately after roasting the meat and onion when adding water.

Properties of Khoresht Karafs | celery stew

Celery has many health benefits, including:

• Blood pressure control: Celery contains potassium, which lowers blood pressure.
• Reducing inflammation: Celery has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce skin inflammation and arthritis, etc.
• Cholesterol reduction: Celery can help reduce blood cholesterol levels due to its high fiber content.
• Increase body immunity: Celery contains vitamin C and various types of antioxidants that can help increase body immunity.
• Improve digestion: The fiber in celery can help improve digestion and regulate blood sugar levels.
• Relaxing: Some people believe that celery has relaxing properties and can help improve sleep and reduce stress.
• Maintaining weight gain: Due to its fiber and low calories, celery can help maintain a healthy weight.
• One or two Dried limes can be added to the meat in the middle of cooking. In this case, you can skip the lemon juice or water or put a smaller amount of them in your celery stew so that the stew doesn’t taste too sour.

• You can also finely chop celery leaves and use them in stews.
• Celery stew can be cooked with quail or chicken instead of red meat.
• To prepare vegetarian celery stew, you can use soybeans and mushrooms instead of meat.
• The more celery stew is cooked at a lower temperature and for a longer period of time, the more settled and delicious it will be.
• If, after adding vegetables to the stew, you notice that your stew lacks a little water, do not immediately add boiling water. The celery will gradually release a little water and make the stew thinner.

Calories in khoresh karafs food

The contents of this stew have a total of approximately 1190 kcal of energy, and dividing it among four people will bring the amount of calories received to about 300 kcal for each person. 

Of course, since this dish is served with rice, the amount of energy received for every 5 tablespoons (cooked rice) will add another 80 kcal. 

This dish is a good choice for Suhur because it is juicy and has an appetizing smell.

Facts about the celery plant

Celery is a plant from the Apiaceae family, which is known by the scientific name Apium graveolens and is widely used in cooking. 

The history of the use of celery can be very long, so even in ancient Greece, this special plant was used.

It is interesting to know that there is also a French proverb about celery that says: If people were aware of the properties of celery, they would devote all their land and fields to planting it.

Many studies have been done on the celery plant and its properties, and the results obtained are amazing.

This plant is so low in calories that it is called a negative-calorie food. Therefore, it can be the best option for people who need minerals but are afraid of gaining weight.

In addition, those who are active in traditional medicine and examine the human body from the point of view of acidity and alkalinity or warmth and coldness are of the opinion that no plant like celery has been reported.

Having a journey in the history of khoresh karafs

Khoresht Karafs is an authentic Iranian dish that is usually served with white rice and is very fragrant and delicious. 

Khoresht Karafs is famous in different regions of Iran, and one of the most popular dishes in Iranian kitchens and restaurants is royal and majestic celery stew.

The history of celery stew goes back to ancient times; according to historical sources, some people used celery as a widely consumed and popular food in the Sasanian period and before.

 Although there is no specific information about the age of using this plant in the diet, as far as the history of cooking goes, even the ancient Greeks used celery in their cooking.

Interestingly, the French even have a proverb about celery.

In general, it can be said that Khoresh Karafs is cooked all over Iran, but in some regions of Iran, such as Shiraz, celery stew is known as a high-quality and delicious food. 

Royal Khoresh Karafs, with a combination of celery, mutton, and other spices, has a special and delicious taste, which is why it is welcomed in most Iranian homes.

You may mistakenly call Khoresh Karafs as Khoresht Karafs. This is one of the common mistakes that our people still use. As the old saying goes, people’s intentions are important.

Conclusion

Thank you for being with us with this delicious and popular food. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make celery stew. It is interesting to know that lamb meat or chicken meat is very suitable for making celery stew, and it is better not to use very fatty meats.

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Frequently Asked Questions about khoresh karafs