Bowl of Mulligatawny Soup
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Mulligatawny Soup


Anglo-Indian
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 6 cups
***
1-1/2 hr
Most		 "Mulligatawny" is an English distortion for the Tamil words for "Pepper Water". The original British version was fried onions, broth, pepper and spices, but it has been considerably expanded since then (also see Note-7).




6
4
2
8
1
3/4
5
2
4
1/4
1
1
1/2
1/2
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1/2
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oz
oz
oz
oz

in
oz
T
c
c
T
t
t
c
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c
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Chicken, cooked
Celery
Carrots
Onion
Chili (1)
Ginger root
Apple, tart
Oil (2)
Stock (3)
Lentils, red
Curry Powder (3)  
Salt
Pepper, black
Coconut Milk
-- Serve with
Cooked Rice (5)
-- Garnish
Cilantro leaves

Vegetarian versions are also made, using vegetable stock and no meat.

Prep   -   (25 min)
  1. Shred CHICKEN small for soup. Set aside until needed.
  2. Chop CELERY medium. Peel CARROTS and chop medium. Chop ONION medium. Seed CHILI and chop medium. Slice GINGER very thin and chop medium. Mix all.
  3. Core APPLE and chop fine. Hold in cold water acidulated with a little citric acid or lemon juice until needed.
Run   -   (1 hour)
  1. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan of sufficient size for the whole recipe, heat Oil. Stir in the Vegetable mix and fry stirring until the Onions threaten to take color.
  2. Stir in Curry Powder for about 30 seconds, then stir in Lentils, Stock, Salt and Pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  3. Run in a food processor until purée is quite smooth. Pour back into the cleaned pan.
  4. Cook RICE.
  5. Chop CILANTRO for garnish.
  6. When ready to serve:   Bring the soup back up to a simmer. Stir in Chicken and Coconut Milk. Bring back to a simmer. Drain Apples, stir them in, and take soup off the heat.
  7. To serve, place a scoop of hot rice in a bowl and ladle soup over, garnish with Cilantro and serve immediately (see also Note-6).
NOTES:

  1. Chili:

      One seeded Serrano chili, combined with our formula for Madras Curry Powder, gives this soup a distinct, but very tolerable bite. For details see our Chili Page.

  2. Stock:

      Most recipes call for Chicken stock and shredded Chicken, but Lamb or Mutton (Goat in India) are alternatives for both stock and shredded meat. If you have no cooked chicken, you can simmer some raw chicken (about 9 ounces, it shrinks) in the stock for 45 minutes before you proceed with the recipe.

  3. Oil:

    Some recipes call for butter rather than oil (in India this would be Ghee - clarified butter). I use Pure Olive Oil (not virgin).

  4. Curry Powder:

      This must be best quality Madras curry powder. Sun or Ship brands are good, but grinding fresh is much better. See our recipe Madras Curry Powder. Some recipes do call for Indian Garam Masala, but that's less authentic - this is British, not Indian.

  5. Rice:

      Some recipes call specifically for Basmati rice, but this soup is derived from a Tamil sauce and Madras (now Chennai) curry powder, both from Tamil Nadu in southern India. Thai Jasmine would be closer to the rice used in that region - but do as you like - it's British, so "authenticity" is not much of a factor.

  6. Serving:

      Some recipes call for placing warm rice, chicken and apples into individual serving bowls, then ladling hot soup over, garnishing and serving immediately. This is not at all practical for buffet service - you'll be really lucky even to get people to understand about the rice - they're quite distracted. For buffet, I mix in everything but the rice and place it in a slow cooker set to "keep warm".

  7. Historical:

      An Anglo-Indian cookbook I have (pl6), published in India in 1941, does not use curry powder. It calls for a cloth bag of whole spices: 2 oz Coriander seed, 1 oz cumin seed, 1 oz fenugreek, 1/2 oz mustard seed, 2 cl garlic, 12 peppercorns, and 4 or 5 bay leaves. Turmeric is expressly omitted. The stock is simmered and the bag is pulled when it reaches the right flavor. This is for about 4 cups of vegetable stock, no chicken, and suggests a few drops of Tabasco sauce (not exactly Indian). It does mention it can also be made the same way with mutton (goat in India) or chicken stock. The title is for "Mulligatawny Soup (clear)", implying the non-clear curry powder seasoned version was also well known.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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