Cooking Index - Cooking Recipes & IdeasMulligatawny Soup - {Anglo-Indian} Recipe - Cooking Index

Mulligatawny Soup - {Anglo-Indian}

Peggy Gurley and her Mom bullied me into coming up with a good Mulligatawny recipe, and now I'm glad they did. Mulligatawny -- literally, "Pepper Water" -- is a substantial and deliciously complex meal in itself. At the same time it poses its own mystery since soup is not a significant part of traditional Indian cuisine. Rumor has it that the English adapted a traditional spiced pea and lentil Indian peasant dish to suit their own love of soup...and called it Indian.

Courses: Soup
Serves: 4 people

Recipe Ingredients

2 tablespoons 30mlButter or olive oil
2   Celery stalks - chopped
1   Carrot - peeled, chopped
1   Onion - peeled, chopped (large)
1   Chile pepper - seeded, deveined
  (your choice; banana, poblano, jalapeño,
  Habanero, whatever you can stand)
4 cups 948mlChicken stock
1/4 cup 59mlLentils
  Salt - to taste
  Freshly-ground black pepper - to taste
1 tablespoon 15mlCurry powder
1/2 cup 118mlCoconut milk - see * Note
  (or use whipping
  Cream)
1 cup 160g / 5.6ozCooked rice, preferably basmati - (to 2 cups)
1/2 cup 31g / 1.1ozShredded cooked chicken - (to 1 cup)
  (you can cook raw chicken in the stock at
  The start if you don't have leftover
  Chicken lying around)
1/2 cup 73g / 2.6ozTart raw apple - chopped fine
  Garnish
  Extra cream or coconut milk
  Minced cilantro or parsley

Recipe Instructions

* Note: If you can't find canned coconut milk in a Thai/Indian market or fancy supermarket you can make it. Just pour some boiling water over fresh grated or packaged UNSWEETENED coconut. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then blend in a blender or food processor and strain as finely as you can, pressing the solids hard before throwing them out. Add the coconut milk at the last possible minute because its distinctive flavor degrades quickly in high heat.

Saute the celery, carrots, onion, and pepper in the butter at a low heat until the onion is translucent. Pour in the stock, add the lentils (and chicken, if it's raw), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, get the rice cooked (if it isn't already); likewise with the chicken. Then shred the chicken and chopped the apples finely. You don't need to skin the apples.

When the soup is done, puree, solids first, in a blender. Return to pot.

When ready to serve, bring the soup to a simmer and add the cocoanut milk or cream. Take the pot to the table, as well as individual bowls of warm rice (heated in the microwave, if necessary), shredded chicken, finely chopped apple, cocoanut milk (or cream), and minced cilantro (or parsley).

To serve, have big individual serving bowls at the ready. Spoon rice into each bowl (flat soup bowls are nice here) -- then pile on a big spoonful of chicken and a spoonful of apple. Ladle the soup on top, then drip cocoanut milk/cream into the center and swirl -- and sprinkling with fresh cilantro and parsley.

Serve this one hot -- and with a lot of showmanship -- to 4 to 6 people.

Source:
Soup Of The Evening...Beautiful Soup at http://www.soupsong.com

Rating

Average rating:

Unrated, please add a rating

Submit your rating:

Click a star to rate this recipe.