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Have you ever had mulligatawny? Best soup ever!
It’s basically a curry soup, most often made with chicken, vegetables, apples, and rice. Not only is it absolutely delicious, it’s the perfect example of how one culture acquires food from another, and adapts it to their own taste.
Mulligatawny is the ultimate “fusion” food, invented centuries before anyone would even know what that meant. It hails from the early days of the British Raj in India.
According to Lizzie Collingham in A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors, the colonialists, wanting a first course for their dinner, requested of their Indian cooks to make them soup. The cooks obliged with what most approximated soup in their repertoire, a light tonic broth made with peppers, tamarind, and water (“molo tunny” in Tamil), dressed up with some vegetables and meat.
Over the centuries the soup evolved to what we know today—a creamy curry chicken soup with apples, rice, and vegetables. It’s a simple, wholesome soup, and a classic in Anglo-Indian cuisine.
How to Make Chicken Mulligatawny Soup
Chicken Mulligatawny Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 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 (60 ml) cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) plain yogurt for garnish
- 1 tablespoon minced chives for garnish
Method
1 Sauté onions, celery, carrots in olive oil and butter, add bay leaves, curry powder: Heat butter and olive oil on medium high heat in a large (4 to 5 quart), thick-bottomed pot. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes until just starting to soften. Add the bay leaves. Add the curry powder and mix to coat.
2 Add chicken, stock, salt: Add the chicken thighs and stir to coat with the curry mixture. Add the stock and water to the pot. Add the salt. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
3 Remove chicken, let cool to touch: Remove the chicken pieces from the pot. (They should be just cooked through. If not, return them to the pot for another 5 minutes or so, until they are cooked through.) Place on a cutting board and allow to cool to the touch.
4 Add rice, apples: Add the rice and the chopped apples to the soup. Return to a simmer on high heat, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through.
5 Shred the chicken, return to soup, add cream: While the apples and rice are cooking in the soup, shred the chicken, discarding any tough bits. Once the rice and apples in the soup are cooked, add the chicken back to the pot. Heat for 5 minutes more. Then stir in the cream.
Serve with yogurt and chives.
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More mulligatawny trivia. According to food historian Janet Clarkson in her book, Soup a Global History, William Kitchiner had this to say about the dish: "It is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian friends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it... the more familiar name of curry soup would, perhaps not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to seduce him from his much loved mock turtle."
Links:
Chicken Noodle Soup here on Simply Recipes
Vegetarian Mulligatawny from Karina, the Gluten-free Goddess
Curried Turkey Soup, a Mulligatawny made with leftover turkey, here on Simply Recipes
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Chicken Mulligatawny Soup
Reading the recipe found two additions of curry and bay leaf?
Hi Helen, it is only one addition, but I see where you got confused. In Step 2, it says “stir to coat with the curry mixture”. That “curry mixture” is the vegetables and spices in the pot. Thanks for pointing that out to us!
This soup was easy and delicious but I added potatoes instead of the apples. I will definitely make this again
xxxxxyyyyy
I have made this over and over and over again! My husband and I love it. I like to substitute the cream for coconut milk and I add hot pepper flakes and cayenne pepper to the veggies for some spice. I also made this soup for a friend who is vegetarian so I used chickpeas instead of chicken. She loved it!
xxxxxyyyyy
This soup is an all time favorite! I’ve made it countless times….never tire of it
I have been making mulligatawny for over 30 years and it comes out different every time. I render a whole chicken(salt pepper bay leaves)then remove and use mustard greens, kale, any greens (root veggies) rutabaga, turnips parsnips carrots, celery,cut into pieces. Curry, turmeric, pepper a large onion, Rosemary and Thyme. Curry is to taste. I serve with plain yogurt and Naan. I was using tomatoes and cream, I wanted a clearer broth. I add chicken meat back in towards the end of cooking to keep the meat from getting too stringy. Better than Bouillon is good if salty to create a more hearty flavor. When I really cheat I get a good baguette of bread cut it and place in the bottom of the soup bowl, a little surprise. Be creative! PS: It freezes really well!!
Thank you for sharing your version of Mulligatawny, Bob! Great ideas here.