Khoresh karafs

Khoresh karafs, whose Persian name means celery stew, is a traditional Iranian dish in which celery is the central ingredient. It belongs to the khoresh family of Iranian stews and, like the others, is served with Persian rice. The stew is traditionally cooked with red meat such as lamb or beef, though chicken is a common substitute, and in recent years vegan and vegetarian versions have entered Iranian home cooking, with white broad beans suggested as the protein in one cookbook. Its defining character is sourness, traditionally supplied by unripe grape juice or verjus, with lemon juice, lime juice, tamarind or even citric acid used instead. A recipe for it appears in a 1964 cookbook by Roza Montazemi.