Mulligatawny Soup

Name: Mulligatawny Soup
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: british, indian
Ingredients: 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 red or yellow onion, minced; Salt; 8 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped; 2 tablespoons minced ginger (from about 2 inches of peeled ginger root); 2 teaspoons black or brown mustard seeds; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon curry powder; 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds; 2 carrots, peeled and sliced; 2 celery stalks, sliced; 1 large apple, preferably Granny Smith, peeled, cored and chopped; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks; 1 cup masoor dal (split red lentils); 6 cups chicken broth or stock; 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk; Juice of 1 lime (about 1½ tablespoons)

By Sarah DiGregorio

Updated Feb. 4, 2022

Mulligatawny Soup — David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 50 minutes
Rating: 4(1,945)
Comments: Read comments

This soup is a British-Indian cuisine hybrid, the result of colonizers’ encounters with rasam — a spiced, soupy dish often enriched with lentils, sometimes served over rice — from Tamil Nadu, a region in southern India. “Milagu tannir,” which means pepper water, was how Tamil people described some versions of rasam; it morphed into mulligatawny when the British made it thick, chunky and meaty. In the cookbook “Classic Indian Cooking,” the author Julie Sahni wrote that she fell in love with mulligatawny when she first encountered it in Germany. “The present version bears no resemblance whatever to the traditional rasam,” she said, adding, “Because of its unorthodox origin, Indian cooks have had a field day exercising their creative genius with it.” This version is thickened with a roux, masoor dal and coconut milk, and bolstered with chicken thighs and tart apple. Curry powder is not a traditional Indian ingredient, but it reflects the dish’s British influence.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

¼cup vegetable oil
1red or yellow onion, minced
Salt
8garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
2tablespoons minced ginger (from about 2 inches of peeled ginger root)
2teaspoons black or brown mustard seeds
1teaspoon ground turmeric
1teaspoon curry powder
½teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste
½teaspoon cumin seeds
2carrots, peeled and sliced
2celery stalks, sliced
1large apple, preferably Granny Smith, peeled, cored and chopped
2tablespoons tomato paste
3tablespoons all-purpose flour
1pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
1cup masoor dal (split red lentils)
6cups chicken broth or stock
1(14-ounce) can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime (about 1½ tablespoons)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Warm the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and shrunken, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. Add the mustard seeds, turmeric, curry powder, cayenne and cumin seeds, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mustard seeds pop and sizzle, about 90 seconds. Add the carrot, celery and apple, and cook, stirring, until just starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then the flour, and cook, stirring well, to uniformly coat all the ingredients, about 2 minutes.
Step 2
Add the chicken, masoor dal and chicken broth. Season lightly with salt. Bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer.
Step 3
Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the chicken and carrots are tender, the soup is creamy, and the flavors have blended.
Step 4
Stir in the coconut milk and squeeze in the lime juice. Serve in bowls topped with a dusting of cayenne, if desired.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,945 user ratings

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Comments

David3 years ago

The Soup Nazi's best recipe, until Elaine ruined everything!

tikcuf3 years ago

any suggestions on a vegetarian/vegan version of this?

Feroza3 years ago

Here is a recipe from my friend Kavita Naik—a bit in Indian English In an utensil boil 3-4 whole tomatoes , boil 10-15 min, once cooked smashed them n strain to discard skins. Crush some garlic pods, cumin seeds, pepper corns Take a pot, add oil, once heated sautee mustard seeds, asofetida curry leaves, dried red chilled, turmeric and the above crushed garlic and cumins, pour the tomato sauce, heat, boil add, say 1/2 cup rice, and a mix or vegetables, until cooked, but keep spicy.

Moon614 days ago

My family are Sri Lankan bughers - one of the original listed in the Ceylon Dutch Burgher Union. Our recipe passed down through generations bares little resemblance to this and I do believe it is a soup that perhaps has no agreed recipe. I think our family recipe needs no validation- we've been eating it this way for 100 years, in Colombo and now Melbourne, based on beef stock, finely cubed beef, small cubed potato, carrot, celery etc, spices and some coconut milk. And a good deal of sour into it add the end like lime juice or tamarind. We would never add fruit to it if any kind. It is serves with Sri Lankan string hoppers- a soup base to these fine, steamed rice noodle cakes, ali f with curries and sambols. It is a very fine meal and you may need to find a Sri lankan family to to make you this traditional meal in their home. Burgers are now a dying population and their unique and traditional cuisine will soon be lost over time but it is grand and delicious.

Chris3 months ago

What is the serving size? (1 or 2 cups?)

Chris Aga3 months ago

What is the serving size? It says 6 servings, is it 1, or 2 cups per serving?

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