Here I am again with soup. As the Mock-Turtle sang, “Soup of the evening! Beautiful Soup!”
I need a Bollywood version though: both these soups of Indian origin.
Mulligatawny
Mulligatawny is an Anglo-Indian recipe from the days of the Raj, and that great name makes it memorable even if you haven’t eaten any. The London restauranteurs who popularized it certainly recognized the advantages of a good name: “the more familiar name of Curry Soup—would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty”. I’ve remembered the name since I first saw it in the 1970s, and probably have half a dozen cookbooks with this classic recipe, but never made it until recently.
This is the recipe from SimplyRecipes, with ginger and garlic added — you’ll find lots of pictures and even video there. Serves 4 to 6.
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
2 bay leaves
4 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1 1/4 pound (570 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of visible fat
2 cups (475 ml) chicken stock
2 cups (475 ml) water
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon sea salt)
1/4 cup uncooked basmati rice
2 tart apples, cored, peeled, and chopped (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (60 ml) plain yogurt for garnish
1 tablespoons minced chives for garnish
- Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat in a heavy soup pot. Saute onion, celery and carrot until starting to soften, 5 minutes or so. Add garlic, ginger, bay leaves, and curry powder. Stir well to coat everything with curry powder.
- Add chicken and stir to coat with the seasonings. Add chicken stock, water, and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover, simmer 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and let it cool. (If it’s not done, return to pot and cook another 5 minutes.)
- Add rice and apples, bring soup back to a simmer, reduce heat, cover, simmer 15 minutes or until rice is done.
- While rice and apples are cooking, shred the chicken. When rice is done, add the shredded chicken and cook 5 minutes. Stir in cream. Serve garnished with yogurt and minced chives. (Or sour cream like in my picture above.)
Masoor Dal (Red Lentil Soup)
from A Communal Table — serves 4, takes about 45 minutes
So, what’s the “secret” to the deep flavor of this soup? Two things really. One, cooking the lentils by themselves in vegetable stock instead of cooking them along with all the other ingredients which is what I typically do.
Believe it or not, this makes a world of difference to the flavor of the soup. Since this soup uses red lentils, the cooking time is short and I can have everything else ready to go when the lentils are done.
Second “secret”? Cooking the spices, ginger, garlic and onions together to really develop those flavors before adding any liquid.
The result is outstanding IMO. I picked this from the Google list over recipes from more famous chefs and was not disappointed. I am still trying to tweak the spices to match a restaurant soup that I loved.
Do they eat celery in India? That restaurant put in their lentil soup, but most Indian markets around here don’t sell it.
If you’re not familiar with Indian cooking, note that different kinds of dal are not interchangeable! This recipe is for RED lentils (masoor dal) not any of the other kinds. They are small and tender compared to the green (brownish) lentils more commonly used in European-American cooking, and they mostly break down to thicken the soup.
1 cup red lentils
6 cups vegetable stock, divided (I’m not vegetarian and like it better with chicken stock)
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons ginger and garlic paste**
1 small onion cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 fresh serrano chile, seeds removed, minced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
one 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (optional)
optional garnish: chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream or plain yogurt
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Rinse the lentils several times until the water is clear. Transfer the lentils to a small saucepan. Add 3 cups of vegetable stock. Over medium heat, bring the lentils to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the lentils are tender the stock has been absorbed. Set aside.
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In a large soup pot, heat the 2 Tablespoons canola oil over medium high heat. Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion and saute for 2 - 3 minutes, being careful not to brown the onion. Add the chile and spices and cook for another two the three minutes until the spices are fragrant.
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Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are tender.
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Add the canned tomatoes, celery if using, remaining 3 cups stock and lentils. Stir to combine.
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Increase the heat to medium high and bring the soup to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes to allow all the flavors to blend. Serve into bowls and garnish with sour cream / yogurt and cilantro if desired.
** You can purchase ginger garlic paste in Indian markets, or buy individual containers of ginger paste and garlic paste in your local supermarket, or puree equal parts garlic and ginger in a small food processor, or just mince them.
What’s for dinner at your place? Maybe you could write about it for a future WFD? Pretty please? Message ninkasi23 if you will.