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Mulligatawny
Soup
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Indian
curry-flavored lentil soup
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One of the most
famous Indian soups. A great spicy and light soup. A nice starter for
a meal, it will wake up your taste buds. British colonists in India
freely adapted the foods and spices they found there and brought their
recipes back home. Mulligatawny is the Anglicized version of an Indian
word for "pepper water." The name of this well-known soup is
simply a corruption of the Tamil milagu-tann
ir, ‘pepper-water' : Tamil milakutanni, from milaku pepper +
tanni water
| 1/4 cup
lentils |
| 3 table
spoons butter |
| 1
tablespoon oil |
| 2 onions
chopped finely |
| 2 stalks
celery chopped |
| 1/2 teaspoon
grated ginger |
| 1 teaspoon
curry powder or garam masala |
| 1 dried
red pepper crushed |
| 1
tablespoon coriander powder |
| 1/2
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
| 2
tablespoons flour |
| 2 carrots
chopped |
| 2 red
potatoes diced |
| 2 tomatoes
diced |
| 6 cups
bouillon or vegetable stock |
| Juice of
one lemon |
| 1/4 cup
cilantro leaves chopped |
| 1 cup
coconut milk |
| Salt to
taste |
Pour enough
warm water over lentils to cover well, put aside. This is to soak the
lentils before cooking.
Melt
butter and oil in large pan, add chopped onion and celery and cook
until transparent. Add ginger cook 1 minute more. Add curry powder,
dried red pepper, crumbled, ground coriander, freshly ground
black pepper and stir over low heat 2 minutes. Add flour to pan, stir
over low heat 1 minute. Add the bullion. Mix well.
Stir in the
carrots, potatoes and tomatoes and the drained lentils.
Reduce heat, simmer uncovered 20 minutes, cover pan, simmer 30
minutes or until vegetables and lentils are tender.
Puree in
blender or food processor. Return soup to pan, bring to boil. Season
the soup with salt according to your taste. Stir in lemon juice and
cilantro and simmer 5 minutes more. Reduce heat,
stir in coconut milk.
Serve hot. Add
a few teaspoons of freshly made plain white rice.
Note: A
great Mulligatawny soup will make your eyes and nose water because of
its hotness and flavor. There are many adaptations of this soup. You
can add chicken, seafood or meat to the soup above for variation. The
lentils mentioned in the list of ingredients are the brown flat
lentils available in the grocery store.
