Saturday, October 11, 2008

Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny in Tamil means Pepper Water (Milagu + Thanni). When the British came to rule India, they enjoyed the local rasam very much and decided to tweak it a bit to make it suit their palettes, as well as trying to make it an appetizer or entree on its own. The version you see on restaurant menus these days is an anglicized version of rasam or pepper water.

We enjoy it on cool nights when you need just a bowl of hot soup and some bread. Be warned that this is a heavy soup and a bowl can be had as a complete meal.


Mulligatawny Soup

1 tsp Peppercorn
1 Onion, sliced
250 g Moong Dal (split yellow lentils)
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 Bay Leaves
2-3 Curry Leaves
1 Apple, skinned and chopped
1/4 cup shredded Coconut
1 Carrot, chopped
1 clove Garlic
small pinch Garam Masala
Salt, to taste (about 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp Oil

In a heavy saucepan, cook the lentils with 2-3 cups of water.

In a skillet, saute the onions, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorn, apple, curry leaves and coconut together. Once the carrots are cooked through, add the sauteed ingredients to the cooking lentils. Add the garam masala, turmeric and salt and allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes or until lentils are completely cooked.

Remove from heat. Hunt for and fish out the bay leaf and curry leaves (you don't want those blended in - they make the soup bitter). Put the soup in the blender for a few minutes and strain.

Garnish with lemon juice, chopped fresh cilantro and/or cooked rice.

This is for Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen for October's No Croutons Required featuring Vegetarian Soups.

17 comments:

CurryLeaf said...

Love the soup.Thanks,If u do not mind mind,kindly send it to Legume affair at Sra's.I am searching a good recipe as for entry.

Siri said...

I tasted this soup once when I visited an Indian restaurant in NC. But, its much thinner and dark brown on color. urs looks so thick and yummy Anu! Thanks for the recipe.

Hugs,
Siri

Unknown said...

Rich n creamy..Its cold here today and I crave for hot soups..Wish I had these now..

Arundathi said...

Curry Leaf - Thanks for the comment - I'll go check it out.

Siri - Yes, I think its supposed to resemble Rasam more closely, but this is the one we get at my local club and I love it.

Divya Vikram - Its very easy to make!

Priyanka said...

i have only heard about this soup....never tried it out.thanks for posting the recipe

Bharti said...

Hmm..didn't know it had apple in it. I'll give this a shot soon..we're officially in soup weather (although it was uncannily warm today for this time of the year). Fall means soup to me and I've never given this one a go. Thanks for posting.

Raaga said...

Didn't know it could be so creamy... looks lovely

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Mmmmmmmm, lovely! I like the sound of adding coconut to it.
Thanks for submitted your soup to No Croutons Required.

Arundathi said...

Priyanka - You're welcome.

Bharti - Yup, a little bit of apple to sweeten everything up!

Raaga - Thanks

Holler - So glad I could contribute!

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow this is something really very simple and easy. Sounds healthy too.

Lisa Turner said...

One of my favorite soups! Thanks for your entry!

Arundathi said...

Kitchen Flavors - Yup its incredibly healthy with the lentils...

Lisa - Sure, glad I could contribute!

Srivalli said...

Hey I always thought this was thinner...:)..that bowl looks yum!

Arundathi said...

Srivalli - yes they are much thinner in restaurants - more like rasam - this is my version...

Anonymous said...

What a filling and healthy looking soup! I would love to feature it in our pre-loaded Demy, the first and only digital recipe reader. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if you're interested.

To find out more about the Demy, you can visit this site:
http://mydemy.com/

Thanks!

Vaishali said...

Thank you, thank you for a lovely mulligatawny recipe. I've never made it before, but this one definitely inspires me. Perfect for those inevitable winter days that are almost upon us.

Arundathi said...

Sophie - the Demy looks utterly cool - I've signed up on the site. thanks.

Vaishali - you're very welcome and I hope you enjoy it...