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 curry 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 and 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 off the heat.

Heat the ghee, and when it is just shy of smoking, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. This takes only 2-3 seconds; immediately pour the hot oil into the puréed soup. Add lemon juice and chopped cilantro, and serve.

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 — cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, clove and more. If not available, replace it with a teaspoon of any other aromatic ground spice such as cinnamon or cardamom.

To make a meat-free version, leave out the chicken — the flavors will still be wonderful.

Makes 4-6 servings