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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
The one thing I add the soup is COCONUT MILK, it makes if. With the curry etc,, you badly need the coconut milk, it kicks it up to the divine
Hi Myrtle, great suggestion! The addition of coconut milk is a change to the classic mulligatawny, but I’m sure it’s delicious.
Have now made this soup 3 times in just 3 weeks. It is really, really nice. Tasty without being overly strong in curry. I found there seemed little rice so now use 1/2 cup of rice instead. I also add extra liquid, using the remainder of the 1 litre stock , adding some when reheating single serves each time. The yogurt and chives just add to the flavour. Best soup I have made. Great on cold wet Covid days.
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Perfect non spicy curry that my daughter really loves. Lots of wholesome vegetables and protein too. So delicious and healthy!
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I’ve made it three times now. The first batch was the most amazing soup ever and the apples were an amazing edition. However the last two batches the apples tasted more sweet instead of tart and it ruined it for me. I can’t remember what kind of apples I used the first time but it must make a difference! Any suggestions?
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Hi Danelle, you do want tart apples for this recipe. I always use Granny Smiths. Note that even tart apples become more sweet the longer they’re on the tree (or in cold storage) so you might want to taste the apples first before using.
I wouldn’t call it Mulligatawny, but it is delicious! Coconut is milk fits the bill vs cream, and all your veggies were western. The carrots sure do add color though! I like some chili’s in it, and I would add lentils instead of rice.
Hi Lorraine,
Did you know mulligatawny was developed to suit British tastes? So Western vegetables and cream do make sense here if you want the classic artifact. But lentils and coconut milk would be very tasty! The soup has a complex history, as does any food borne of colonial rule. Here’s an interesting article, about that, and here’s an even more interesting podcast about the history of curry in Europe.