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Mulligatawny Soup

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This is the mulligatawny soup recipe from my book ‘The Curry Guy Easy’.

You are going to find this mulligatawny soup recipe so easy to make and delicious too. That’s why I featured it in my cookbook ‘The Curry Guy Easy’. You can literally cook it from start to finish in about 40 minutes including preparing the ingredients.

Mulligatawny soup

Mulligatawny soup photographed by Kris Kirkham for my book ‘The Curry Guy Easy’.

About this mulligatawny soup recipe…

Mulligatawny soup stems from the Madras (Chennai) region of India but has been popular here in the UK for at least two centuries. The Indian name for Mulligatawny is ‘rasam’ (or pepper water) and this recipe includes a lot of black pepper! It is a lot different to most of the Mulligatawny soups I’ve tried, but it’s right up there with the best.

The thing is, there is no one recipe for mulligatawny soup. Mulligatawny soups can vary greatly in flavour and colour. This recipe was sent to me by my friend Palash Mitra, when he was head chef of Gymkhana in London.

He serves it with broken pieces of idli and a couple of seared scallops, which I highly recommend adding if you have them on hand. To make it easy on yourself, simply adding a few tablespoons of fresh herbs like coriander (cilantro) and mint and you’ll love it. 

Delicious ways to make this mulligatawny soup your own…

Please look at this soup recipe as more of an idea than a recipe in stone. Yes, it’s a truly amazing mulligatawny soup just as it is but there are many things you can do with it.

Sometimes, when I’m really hungry, I’ll add chunks of meat such as chicken or beef. In Winter, it is nice cooked with a bit of feathered game such as pheasant and partridge and even serve it over rice. Venison is also very good and authentic to the style of the recipe.

How do I add meat to this mulligatawny soup recipe?

Just think about the cut of meat you want to add. Chicken, for example can be sliced and added raw to cook into the soup. Tougher cuts such as venison will take longer.

In the case of tougher cuts, you want to ensure they are really tender before serving. Cut them small. You could brown the meat in some oil to sear in the flavour and then add it to the mulligatawny soup with all the meat juices.

You might need to add more stock or water as the soup simmers until the meat is perfectly tender. 

Anyway, this mulligatawny soup recipe is quite nice whatever you do with it. Enjoy it as it is or have fun experimenting. I’d love to hear what you come up with.

Where do I find unsalted chicken or vegetable stock?

Some specialty shops sell it. You could always make your own too. If you don’t want to make your own or go shopping, use a couple of stock cubes.

Just remember that most stock cubes contain salt so you will want to remember that before adding additional seasoning at the end. I have used stock cubes and it worked fine. 

You might like to try some of these recipes too…

Tom Kha Gai Soup
Seafood Laksa
Spicy Wonton Soup
Keralan Fish Soup

Yield: 4

Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny Soup

Straight from the pages of 'The Curry Guy Easy'. You are going to love this EASY Mulligatawny Soup!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 25g (2 tbsp) butter
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 5cm (2in) cinnamon stick
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 large red onion, finely diced 1 stick celery, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 50g (4 tbsp) tinned tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 leek, diced
  • 1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1 litre salt-free chicken or vegetable stock
  • 400ml tin of thick coconut milk Salt
  • 4 tbsp boiled basmati rice per
  • bowl, to serve (optional) 4 lemon wedges, to serve
  • FOR THE SPICE PASTE
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground black
  • pepper
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 4cm (11/2in) piece of ginger,
  • roughly chopped
  • Handful each of fresh coriander (cilantro) and mint leaves

Instructions

  1. Put all the spice paste ingredients into a food processor or blender. Add a splash of water
    and blitz to a paste. Leave to one side.
  2. In the meantime, melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves and fry for a minute or so to flavour the butter.
  3. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
  4. Now add the celery, carrot, tomatoes and leek and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the spice paste and fry for a few minutes, adding a bit of water if the mixture becomes too dry.
  5. Stir in the flour followed by the chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the soup has thickened.
  6. Pour in the coconut milk and mix through. Season with salt to taste and it’s ready to serve.
  7. If you prefer a creamier texture as I do, blend the soup and run it through a sieve. This is by no means necessary but I like it that way. Adjust the seasoning and add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick.
  8. If serving with rice, spoon the rice into four warmed bowls and pour the hot soup over it. Or just divide the soup into bowls and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 358Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 107647mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 8gSugar: 8gProtein: 11g

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