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Mulligatawny plated and ready to eat
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Hearty Mulligatawny

A highly distinctive, spicy, one-pot dish
Course Meal, Soup
Keyword Cayenne Pepper
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Home-cooked chicken stock 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 436kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 cayenne peppers cut into 1/4 inch slices, seeds and all
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 yellow onions peeled and roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 carrots medium-sized, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
  • 2 potatoes medium-sized floury, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
  • 8 ounces butternut squash peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite-size chunks
  • 2 celery sticks roughly chopped
  • 1 ounce cilantro finely chopped, stalks and all. Half for the cooking, half for garnish.
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger heaped, peeled and very finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ground fenugreek heaped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin heaped
  • 6 green cardamom pods
  • 4 ounces split lentils red or orange, the pre-soaked, ready to cook variety are preferable
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 3 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 pints chicken stock freshly made.
  • A good handful of leftover chicken meat roughly shredded into bite-size pieces

Instructions

Preparing the pre-roasted chicken

  • Start with the remains of your roast chicken. You need to do this about 2 hours before you want to make the mulligatawny. Strip all the good meat off the carcass, remove the skin but don’t discard it, and put the meat in a bowl in the refrigerator.

Making the chicken stock

  • Fill a good-sized saucepan with two pints water and three heaped teaspoons ground sea salt. Break the carcass apart with your hands, add all the pieces together with the skin to the pan and set it on a high heat. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and let it simmer away for two hours with an occasional stir. Drain the stock through a sieve into a bowl and set it aside – stock done.

Making the mulligatawny

  • Heat the coconut oil in a good-sized saucepan on a medium heat. Add the roughly chopped onions, give them a good stir and turn the heat down to medium-low. You want the onions to soften and to get themselves a good golden color – not crisply browned – but a good golden color. That’ll take about ten minutes with some attentive stirring.
  • Now turn the heat to medium and add the potatoes, celery, carrots, and butternut squash. Give that lot a good stir so that it mixes with the onions and let it all cook for 5 minutes with few stirs. You’re looking to get just a bit of color on the potatoes, celery, carrots and butternut squash.
  • Keep the heat on medium and add the cayenne peppers, garlic, cumin, fenugreek, cardamom pods, and lentils. Stir so that everything comes together with a coating of the coconut oil. Now, the mix is going to look a little dry and will perhaps start catching on the bottom of the pan. That’s great. Pour in the coconut milk and add half the chopped cilantro. Drop the heat to low and give the pan a good stir.
  • Add all the chicken stock and the black pepper. Stir the pan, cover it, and up the heat to medium high. The stock is fairly salty, but now’s the time to check if you need to add more salt to suit your taste.
  • As soon as the mulligatawny barely starts to boil, drop the heat to low and let it simmer gently with an occasional stir for about 40 minutes with the pan’s top just slightly ajar.
  • Your guide to when it’s cooked is the butternut squash. You want that squash to be just cooked through – so try a chunk. If it’s a little underdone for your taste, let the mulligatawny simmer away for a few more minutes until you are happy with the butternut squash texture. As soon as you are, add the shredded chicken and turn the heat to medium-high until the pan just begins to boil and then remove it at once from the heat.
  • Add the lemon juice, stir and you’re done. Serve at once in big, warmed soup bowls garnished with the remaining cilantro.

Notes

As for drinks, well, this mulligatawny really is grand for either brunch, lunch or supper. So, you need to adjust accordingly. If I was serving it for supper, I definitely go for an icy-cold, crisp lager or a well-chilled, unoaked chardonnay.

Nutrition

Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 404mg | Potassium: 895mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 11615IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 6mg