Mulligatawny, or Love Medicine

"...I still like to think that there are many rooms in the house of
poetry, and sooner or later we'll all meet over mulligatawny in the kitchen:
slam poets and psalm poets, page poets and stage poets..."
        - Janus Kodal

It all started with a scratchy throat a week or so ago.  A night or two after, I started to sneeze.  By Thursday, I knew I was ordering soup for dinner at the Thai restaurant where we were meeting friends for dinner.  Friday, after several pitiful sneezing fits and sporting a nose that couldn't have been redder if I'd used steel wool instead of a hanky, I was sent home midday from work.  By Friday night, G was starting to sneeze, and by Saturday we'd eaten our way through takeout soups ranging from simple wonton to Dominican chicken sancocho, Mexican tortilla-cilantro and on to chicken-coconut Tom Kha Gai. 

We were tired of them all, and yet we still wanted soup, soup and only soup, perhaps with a bit of bread.  So it was with soup in mind that I dragged myself from our sorry shared sickbed late Saturday afternoon,  to see what the pantry had to offer.  After all, I had brought the germs home, and clearly needed to provide medicine for us both.  Oh happy circumstance:  it appeared that I had everything I would need for a mulligatawny, which I could cobble together after reading a few online recipes and digging through my memory of mulligatawnys I had known and liked in the past.  According to existing literature on the subject, mulligatawny (from the Tamil for "pepper water") is a bit of a kitchen sink supper, having many versions.  Soup as a course by itself was not part of India's traditional cuisine.  Apparently the British who lived and colonized there a century or so ago wanted soup, and something like this is more or less what they got. 

For G and myself in our mutual, miserable nose-blowing state, this was a perfect remedy: exotic, spicy enough to allow us breathing room, yet very, very comforting.  We brought our tray, which held nothing but a basket of toasted spiced naan bread and our bowls of this soup into bed with us, and amidst comforters, pillows, old movies and each other, the healing began.     

My Own Mulligatawny

The ingredient list here seems a little daunting, I know, especially if you're not feeling a hundred percent.  However, you won't believe how quickly this soup goes together.  Like so many good soups and stews, each spoonful allows you to beam with the accomplishment of a dish that is truly delicious, yet requires minimal effort. This recipe is, of course, easily adapted to a vegetarian (dare I say vegan?) version by simply using vegetable stock in place of chicken, and omitting the chopped cooked chicken at the end.

1 tablespoon clarified butter or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium leeks, washed, cleaned and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, or 4 bruised pods
2 bay leaves
2 large carrots, chopped
1 large apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups red lentils
8 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Heat ghee or vegetable oil in a large pot (use low heat); cook onion and leeks until softened and translucent.  Add garlic, ginger, and spices, stirring, until mixture is browned lightly and fragrant. Add carrot, apple, and potato; saute for a few minutes.  Add red lentils and chicken stock to the pot; simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Discard cardamom pods and bay leaves; stir in tomato paste and cook a few minutes longer. Blend or process half of the soup mixture, in batches, until pureed; return to the pot.  This gives you a smooth, velvety soup with some vegetable chunks for texture. Add tamarind and coconut milk;  heat through and adjust seasoning.   Stir in chopped chicken and heat gently; add fresh chopped coriander leaves just before serving.  Garnish with more coriander -- chopped or in sprigs, as you like. 

 

Comments

[Bakerina]

Odds my bodkins, but that mulligatawny sounds so wonderful that I can't believe I didn't make it for dinner. If tomorrow is as rainy and foul as today was, I can already tell that we'll be eating this.

I hope that you and G are all healed, and ready to resume your anniversary month! (Yes, you should get to celebrate for the whole month.)

[Jeanne]

This almost makes me look forward to my next cold!

[Mona]

Tis the season right? To start sniffing and coughing and getting that sore throat. I'm already dreading it. Though daunting is a good word for that recipe list :) it looks fabulous! Just found your blog off of foodsection. I love your color template! Feels very French to me.

[Julie]

Jen, we're definitely better, though G's still coughing and hacking quite a bit. I do hope you make this -- and if you have any tweakings, do tell!

Jeanne, don't wait till you have a cold to try this! It's even better when you actually have a sense of taste/smell...

Hi Mona -- thanks for stopping by. Trust me, just pull all those little spice bottles out, and by that time half the ingredients are lined up...it's an amazingly fast-cooking soup. An hour of work, and dinner's in the bag for several nights to come.

[Cathy]

Julie - I made this last week and just loved it! I ate it all week long and stuck a couple servings in the freezer too (not sure how coconut milk does in the freezer, but guess I'll find out). Thanks for the recipe - I'll definitely be using it again!

[Courtney]

I've had a terrible awful no-good cold all weekend... this soup looks like wonder-medicine! The spices, the tamarind, the coconut milk...

[Julie]

Courtney -- this stuff will do the trick. Let me know how it turns out for you...

[Pam]

HI,

Once a week in our office we take it in turns to cook a soup uring Winter - which it is now in the land of OZ. This week was my turn, I had Mulligatawny soup at a friends house and had decided that this was the souop I would make, after alot of research - I decided to try this one, needless to say it was a big hit.

NOW EVERYONE THINKS I'M SOME SORTA FANCY COOK :-)

FANTANSTIC RECEIPE I WILL BE COOKING IT AGAIN OVER THE WEEKEND - FOR THE FAMILY ( AND ME OF COURSE.)

MANY THANKS FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

[Julie]

Pam, I'm so glad you enjoyed the Mulligatawny -- you make me want to cook it again, even though it's pretty hot in these parts for such a thick spicy soup!

[ela]

Hi,
I had this soup recently at a fundraising event and I was looking around the internet for recipe's for a party I am hosting this weekend. I came across your recipe and would like to make it, but I was wondering how many servings this recipe is? I am hosting a party for 35ppl.
Thanks,
Ela

[Amy Greenan]

I just made this soup the other night and oh boy, was it amazing! I love mulligatawny but never made my own before. From all the recipes I found on the internets, I chose this one and was very happy with the results. One note is that I could not find the tamarind concentrate, so did not include it -- no matter. And it made more than enough -- I'll have had it for one dinner and three lunches this week, at hefty servings no less.

Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!

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