Persian Khoresh Karafs (Vegan Celery Stew)
Khoresht Karafs or vegan celery stew is one of the most delicious and tasty Persian dishes. The full flavor of this dish is in the celery and we add some beans and sometimes mushrooms to it instead of meat. Like many other Persian stews, the slow cooking process helps it to bring out the flavors.
Just like Ghormeh sabzi, some different side dishes like onion slices, Shirazi salad, vegan Doogh, pickles, and fresh herbs are great to accompany this meal.
Ingredients
1 large onion
1 cup pinto beans
400 gr fresh celery stalks
200 gr fresh celery leaves
200 gr fresh parsley
100 gr fresh mint
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
2 tbsp verjuice
1 tbsp pomegranate paste (optional)
To the required amount salt
To the required amount oil
To the required amount water
Steps
1
Soak the pinto beans in water for 8 hours and drain. It helps to remove the bloating of beans and also decreases the cooking time. Then, cook the beans in water and set aside.
Wash the herbs (celery leaves, parsley and mint) and mince them.
Chop the celery stalks into 1-inch pieces.
Sauté all the herbs together in a pan for about 20 minutes. Then set it aside.
Chop the onion into tiny dices and sauté it in a pot until its color slightly changes into golden and add turmeric to it.
Add the beans and herbs to the onion and stir.
Pour about 4 cups of water into the pot and stir the stew. Increase the flame of the oven.
When the stew is boiling reduce the heat and Place the lid on the pot and let it cook for at least 1 hour slowly. During this time, check the stew to make sure that it has enough water and does not burn.
In the end, add the salt, verjuice, tomato paste and pomegranate past. Then let it simmer for more 15 minutes with an open lid. Finally, vegan celery stew is ready to be served with rice and side dishes like other Persian stew.
