Mulligatawny, an Anglo-Indian dish, comes in many guises. For some cooks it is a spicy broth, for others a soup of various densities and for still others a stew. For me, mulligatawny is a silky curried soup with a garnish of chicken, vegetables and herbs, a perfect warming meal on a snowy night.
Mulligatawny was created during the 18th century CE by Indian cooks in the homes and clubs of East India Company for British officials, administrators and businessmen, who were establishing trade in spices, tea, cotton, silk, indigo, saltpeter and opium. These British colonials arrived in India with the haughtiness of “Englishness,” convinced that Indians were inferior, which pervaded all aspects of life in British-ruled India.
The British rigidly pursued their own cultural practices in India even at mealtime. For the British, dining in courses was more civilized than the local practice of serving all dishes at once. The soup course underscored their “Englishness” and omitting it from any meal, big or small, was unthinkable. Since soup was not an element of traditional South Indian cuisine, one had to be invented.
To assure that the invented soup met their requirements, the British described for local Madrasi cooks what made a soup. The closest analogue in Indian cooking to their description was rasam, a Tamil (or Sri Lankan) peppery tamarind sauce customarily served over rice as a digestive at the end of a meal or consumed as medicine. Abandoning Indian dietary rules, local cooks created a soup suitable for British palates by watering down rasam to a consistency of a stock and embellishing it with bits of meat, vegetables and curry powder, a colonial formulation in the 18th century that mimicked the flavors of Indian cooking.
The word “mulligatawny” is not Indian but a British invention. The British had difficulty pronouncing Indian terms, and the name mulligatawny probably resulted from their garbled pronunciation of the Tamil words millagu thanni (also transcribed as mollo tunny, milagu -tannir, mullaga rasam or muligatanni, milagy tuni, muloga tani) or the Sri Lankan words molegoo tunes, all of which mean “pepper water.”
Nonetheless, mulligatawny became a beloved dish of the emerging Anglo-Indian cuisine and was popular throughout the British Raj. According to Lizzie Collingham in Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors *, mulligatawny soup was one of the earliest dishes to emerge from the new hybrid cuisine which the British developed in India, combining British concepts of how food should be presented … and Indian recipes. With the repatriation of ex-pat officers, bureaucrats and businessmen back to England, mulligatawny’s popularity spread to Great Britain, other countries of the Commonwealth and to America by the end of the18th century. By the early 1800s, mulligatawny recipes appeared in English and American cookbooks.
Because of its ad hoc creation by Indian cooks, there developed no standard recipe for mulligatawny. Each cook improvised with ingredients on hand, as in the ancient stone soup fairytale about each additional ingredient ostensibly making the soup better. As it was adapted to suit differing tastes and local ingredients, countless variations emerged hardly resembling each other, making it difficult to compile a uniform list of components. But it is the legendary spicing of British India, whether from a freshly ground spice mixture or curry powder, that unites the mulligatawny variations.
This mulligatawny, made from chicken stock and meat, vegetables, various aromatics, coconut milk, spices and curry powder, has a complex taste, both savory and sweet. Cumin, turmeric, coriander, garlic, bay leaves, chilis and curry powder bestow a deep, earthy savoriness. Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, apple, carrots and sweet potato impart a gentle sweetness. Lemon juice adds a welcome touch of acidity and brightness.
This mulligatawny is both full, yet subtly flavored. Its soothing silky texture from puréed sweet potato and red lentils produces a satisfying richness. Coconut milk adds a delicate creaminess, taming its hot and spicy taste. Each spoonful of mulligatawny reveals a combination of ingredients that produce a subtle flavor greater than the sum of its parts.
Mulligatawny may be an old-fashioned Anglo-Indian dish, but a bowl of its golden goodness when served with naan or chapati or rice and a handful of fresh herbs makes a delectable meal.
Mulligatawny, adapted from various sources***
For the soup:
2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1 teaspoon each)
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1 onion, in ¼ inch dice
2 carrots, in ¼ inch dice
1 stalk celery, in ¼ inch dice
2 jalapeno or serrano*** chiles, in ¼ inch dice
1 sweet potato, peeled, in ¼ inch dice
1 apple, peeled, in ¼ inch dice
2 bay leaves
4 cups (946 ml) chicken stock
4 cups (946 ml) water
1 cup (376 g) red lentils (masoor dhal), rinsed, soaked in boiling water for 1 hour, drained
1 can (13.88 ounces, 403 ml) coconut milk
2 boneless chicken thighs****, cooked and shredded
1 tablespoon lemon juice
For optional garnishes:
3 tablespoons cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons mint leaves
3 tablespoons chopped scallions
For serving:
2 cups cooked basmati rice
Naan or other flatbread
In a large stockpot, on medium heat melt the coconut oil or ghee.
Spices
Sautéing garlic and spices in coconut oil
Add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger, cardamom, cloves cinnamon, nutmeg and garlic, and cook until garlic is aromatic, about 1 minute.
Adding vegetables and curry powder
Add curry powder, onions, carrots, celery and chiles and sauté until vegetables are partially cooked about 3 minutes.
Add chicken stock, water, bay leaves, sweet potato, apple and lentils. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer for about 8-10 minutes. When sweet potatoes are soft, remove 1 cup of vegetables with a slotted spoon and keep warm for garnish. Using an immersion blender or blender, purée the remaining vegetables with 1 cup of the coconut milk (reserving the rest for garnish) until smooth. (You may need to do it in batches.)
Puréed soup
Return puréed soup to stockpot. Add shredded chicken and simmer until soup is piping hot. Add lemon juice and remaining salt and pepper to taste.
Shredded chicken
Serve in warm bowls, garnished with reserved vegetables, herbs of choice, a drizzle of the reserved coconut milk and sides of steamed rice and naan or other flatbread.
Leftovers freeze well for several months.
Serves 4-6.
* Lizzie Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors, Oxford University Press, 2006.
** Joy of Cooking, Bobbs-Merrill, 1964; Joy of Cooking, Scribner, 1997; The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Bantam, 1994 and Serious Eats blog.
*** Jalapeño peppers are mildly hot. Serrano peppers are hotter than jalapeño peppers, at least 5 times hotter. The heat of both chilis can be reduced by removing the seeds and white membranes.
****A good way to use leftover or purchased rotisserie chicken.
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