Wednesday Food Blogging: Mulligatawny Stew

When the British colonized India, they learned to like Indian food, but sometimes they adapted it to their own tastes as well as pronunciation. Mulligatawny Stew, which is derived from the Hindu word 'milaku-tanni' meaning pepper water, was once a staple of British cooking. I haven't seen it on menus here, but Mulligatawny Stew appears on the pages of historical novels I've read, usually consumed in a wayside pub after a particularly brutal winter day.

Of course, it usually contains lamb, and I would never eat one of my new little friends, so I decided to improvise with a vegetarian version, using, as always, the ingredients I had on hand. Many recipes also call for a chopped apple, but I couldn't see how that would improve things, so I added a sweet potato instead.

The end result was filling enough to combat the most brutal British winter day—which these days are not nearly as heinous as during the 1800's Mini Ice Age winters.

Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off; while the stew is stewing you can prepare the next ingredients on the list, making it a chop-as-you-go recipe.

(P.S. Forgot to hit save last night, so this is late. But it's still Wednesday somewhere.)

Mulligatawny Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup red lentils
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 small sweet potato, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 zucchini (courgette), chopped
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
Optional: 1 cup diced chicken substitute, such as Quorn pieces
1/2 cup coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
minced fresh coriander (cilantro) for garnish

In a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot, saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes. Add mustard seeds and spices, heat until mustard seeds pop. (You might want to cover the pot at this point.)

Add chopped tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Add lentils, ginger, carrot, celery, and sweet potato. Bring stock to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, covered, while you chop more vegetables. Add zucchini and broccoli, and if using, chicken substitute, and simmer for 15 minutes more, or until vegetables are soft. (Altogether, this takes around 40 minutes to make, depending how fast you boil the stew. Taste is the best way to determine doneness.)

Stir in coconut milk and lime juice. Taste for seasonings. (Add more cayenne if it doesn't bite your tongue when you slurp it from a spoon.)

Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Comments

[Jeff (no, the other one)]

Yum. Whatever became of the cookbook?

I'd like to do one of my own by year's end.

My mulligatawny recipe is modified from the Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" one:

Mulligatawny

4 quarts water (16 cups)
6 cups chicken stock
2 potatoes, peeled & sliced
2 carrots, peeled & sliced
2 stalks celery, with tops
2 cups peeled & diced eggplant (about 1/2 of an eggplant)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup frozen or canned yellow corn
2/3 cup canned roasted red pepper, diced (or use 2/3 cup salsa)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup roasted cashews
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional, or use some baby spinach leaves)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
dash marjoram
dash nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a large pot over high heat.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4-5 hours or until soup has reduced by more than half, and is thick and brownish in color. It should have the consistency of chili.

Stir occasionally for the first few hours, but stir often in the last hour. The edges of the potatoes should become more rounded, and the nuts will soften. Serve hot. Makes 7-8 servings.

Because of the extreme reduction, the salt in the canned chicken stock was enough. Don't keep adding salt thru the cooking time; wait till the very end and you'll see what I mean.

However, if you use a homemade stock that isn't so salty, you may find you need to add extra salt.

[KathyF]

That's funny; I haven't seen two Mulligatawny recipes that are the same.

Ginger's working on the cookbook; she's waiting for some graphics and then it's almost good to go.

I'm thinking seriously about doing a cookbook too. I've wanted to for years now....

[Jeff (no, the other one)]

Alright then! to the BATCAVE! um, the keyboard...!

[Jo]

I made the vegetarian version tonight. It was incredibly easy and that time-consuming or complicated (I am always making labor-intensive Indian food recipes, so in comparison, this was a breeze). It was pretty good once I doubled the amount of cayenne pepper. I have a feeling the leftovers will be even better.

[Jo]

I meant NOT that time-consuming or complicated.

[ashley]

I think the apple is a must have! Adds that extra bit of sweetness to complement the spice and helps set apart the unique flavor of this dish. I've also had good versions that added rice, nice for sturdying up this already marvelous winter soup.