When the British embraced ‘pepper water’
The British Empire wreaked colossal havoc during its nearly 300 years of occupation in India, but a few silver linings emerged. It commissioned the planting of tea leaves in the mountains of Assam and Darjeeling, where the trendy masala chai was born. The British also embraced the cuisine with such enthusiasm that there’s now an Indian restaurant on almost every block in England.
Legend has it that one time an Englishman asked his South Indian cook to prepare a soup as a starter — and soups being unfamiliar to his Indian cuisine, the ingenious cook created the Mulligatawny (“molo tunny” in Tamil means “pepper water”) by combining rasam, a traditional peppery lentil broth with vegetables. It went on to become a popular dish among the British Raj in India, and today there are many versions of this soup, from a simple boiled chicken stock with rice and carrots to a velvety vibrant soup with vegetables, including this one.
Chicken Mulligatawny
2 chicken legs with bone, skin removed
½ cup toor lentils
1 large or 2-3 medium carrots 2-inch piece of ginger
½ bunch of asparagus stalks only, tips reserved
1 serrano pepper whole, stalk removed (optional)
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds 15-20 kari leaves Juice from 1 lemon Cilantro, chopped
Instructions: Rinse the toor lentils 2-3 times and soak for an hour. Drain. Peel and cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces. Without peeling the ginger, cut it into smaller chunks. Cut the asparagus stalks into small pieces.
In a large stockpot, combine the chicken legs, drained toor lentils, half the carrot chunks, chopped ginger, serrano, asparagus stalks, turmeric, black pepper, salt with 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, put a cover on the stockpot and let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. The carrots should be tender and the lentils cooked through. Remove the chicken legs and let the mixture rest for 15-20 minutes.
Purée the entire mixture and put it back into the stockpot. If the soup is too thick, add half a cup of water. Remove the meat from the chicken and set aside. Add the remaining carrot chunks and simmer the soup, covered for another 10-15 minutes on low heat. Add the chicken meat, asparagus tips and garam masala and turn the heat off.
Heat the ghee and when it is just shy of smoking, add the mustard seeds and kari leaves. This takes only 2-3 seconds; immediately pour the hot oil into the puréed soup. Add lemon juice and chopped cilantro and serve.
NOTES & VARIATIONS
• This soup can be made with many different vegetables — use potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, celery or green beans but always purée half and add the other half of the vegetables chopped at the end.
• Toor lentil — a flat yellow lentil — is particularly good with this soup and lends a remarkably velvety texture; however, other lentils also will work.
• Garam masala is a blend of aromatic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, clove and more. If not available, replace it with teaspoon of any other aromatic ground spice such as cinnamon or cardamom.
• To make a meat-free version, leave the chicken out — the flavors will still be wonderful.
Makes 4-6 servings