The first time I went to Iran, my sister-in-law made a wonderful celery stew – Khoresh Karafs. I had never tasted anything like it. Who knew celery could be so tasty as a star ingredient? Since then I had tried to find a recipe for it, but none were quite right. So, during our visit this year, I made a special request that she show me how to make her Khoresh Karafs.

She shared with me a secret to the great flavor of her stew – adding qormeh sabzi vegetables! Remember, when I last made Qormeh Sabzi, I made extra vegetables and froze them…this is why.

While I watched all the steps of  cooking this using the traditional method, my mind was going over how to convert this to a slow-cooker recipe, it seemed to be a perfect candidate. All I had to do was wait until the celery in my garden was ready for harvest.

My initial try ended up too watery with the celery saying a bit too crisp. So I made some adjustments, and below is the result of combining Nastaran’s recipe with my celery and a slow cooker.

As with many stews, this is even better as a leftover.  I put our leftovers in the freezer and a few weeks later we enjoyed  a great leftover dinner of Khoresh Kalafs and Khoresh Bademjun (eggplant stew).

Thank you Nastaran!

Khoresh Karafs – Celery Stew

1 tbsp oil

1 lb stew beef or chicken, cut bite-sized

1 onion, chopped

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp advieh or cinnamon or advieh

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 lb celery, cut into 1-inch slices (from the garden)

2 tbsp dried mint

1/2 lb qormeh sabzi, fried and water

1 quart water

1/2 cup celery tops, chopped (from the garden)

1/2 tsp salt

2 dried limes, pierced

Splash of lemon.

Directions

Brown the meat in the oil. Add the onion and celery and fry on medium-low for 15 minutes.

Place all the ingredients in a large slow-cooker. Sitr to combine. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a splash of lemon. Serve with basmati rice. Enjoy!

Serves 6.