Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup

A faithful reader emailed me last week wondering if I made a vegetarian version of Mulligatawny soup. Though I sometimes enjoy a bowl of this spicy soup when visiting Indian restaurants — my local favorite being the dark and very spicy version offered at Curry's here in London, Ontario — I had yet to make my own, until now.

Mulligatawny, literally "pepper water", is Anglo-Indian in origin. There are hundreds of versions of this soup. It's easy to make, though it does take a little while to prepare the ingredients for the soup. I had a browse through a few of my cookbooks, and decided to try Madhur Jaffrey's recipe. I've adapted it somewhat to suit my tastes. Free feel to experiment with different kinds of vegetables, and add some chopped fresh chilies for extra heat.

This soup is a thick version of Mulligatawny, but you can add more stock if you wish to thin it out a bit. It can be served with any Indian meal. As is the case with most soups, it tastes better the next day once the flavors have had a chance to blend, so for an even spicier soup, make it ahead of time and simply heat it up before serving.

Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup

Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World Cuisine: Indian Published on May 21, 2007 Thick, creamy, fragrant and spicy Mulligatawny soup — a perfect starter for any Indian meal Print this recipe Ingredients: 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne 2 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan) 5 to 6 cups vegetable stock 1 large potato, diced 6 large button mushrooms, roughly chopped 2 medium carrots, sliced 2 small turnips, peeled and diced 4 tablespoons red lentils small handful dried curry leaves or 2 crushed bay leaves 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced 14 oz (410 mL) can coconut milk 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste Instructions: In a heavy frying pan, dry roast the peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds over medium-high heat. Stir for a couple of minutes or until the seeds begin to emit a roasted aroma and darken a couple of shades. Remove from the pan, let cool, and grind the seeds in a coffee or spice grinder. If desired, press the ground spices through a fine mesh sieve for a finer soup. Add the turmeric and cayenne to the ground spices and set aside. Add the chickpea flour to a medium bowl and add a few tablespoons of the stock. Stir and remove any lumps. Add another 5 cups of stock and mix. Combine the chickpea flour and stock mixture, ground spices, mushrooms and vegetables, lentils, curry leaves or bay leaves, garlic, onion and ginger in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and gently simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add more stock if necessary. Remove from heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a countertop blender. Return the soup to the stove, stir in the coconut milk and salt, and simmer the soup for a couple of minutes to combine the flavours. Again, more stock can be added if you wish. Serve hot in warm bowls garnished with lime wedges. Makes 8 to 10 servings