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| {14/52}: bike trailer season! |
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| {15/52}: sisterly love |
The weather lately is wicked crazy. It can’t decide whether it wants to be warm, cold, windy (correction: it is always windy), or raining. I feel for the poor weather experts who have to try to predict these doozies. Luckily we have had a few days of sunshine–enough for us to burn even while wearing sunscreen–so my need for vitamin D has finally be satiated.
It rained and was hella-windy today, so it seemed like a good day for soup. I like to tinker in the kitchen, and recently I discovered I love curry in soup. First I tried this curried sweet potato soup, which was completely delicious, even to the person in our household who lists sweet potatoes as the only food he won’t eat. Next I decided to try mulligatawny, which was equally delicious.
It would be impossible for me to talk about mulligatawny and not mention Seinfeld. It’s a great word and a great episode and a great soup. All great! My first introduction to mulligatawny was in a little middle eastern restaurant called Lulu’s in Madison, Wisconsin (it’s closed now, sadly). That restaurant offered not just my first introduction to the soup but also my first introduction to Middle Eastern food of any kind.
I learned when deciding to write about mulligatawny that it’s actually a product of Anglo-Indian cuisine rather than authentically Indian. Also I learned that most recipes (including the one in my 1950’s Betty Crocker cookbook) call for chicken and apples, which is such a strange combination to me. Because, you know, there aren’t apples in India.
But perhaps the best part about mulligatawny is that you can make it whatever way you like, with whatever ingredients you have on hand. And it’s so much more fun to say mulligatawny than “curried pea soup.”
The reason I tried mulligatawny now is that I happened to discoverย “vegi soup mix” by Bob’s Red Mill, and somehow the split peas, barley, lentils, and veggie pasta seemed to cry out for curry flavoring. I happened also to have a coconut curry chicken broth on hand, so I used it, but regular chicken stock or veggie broth would be fine too.
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| Pic quality isn’t great, but yk, does lentil soup ever look good? |
mulligatawny
serves 8Ingredients:
few Tbs. of butter & oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 good-sized potatoes, diced (or whatever other veggies you like)
2 c. Bob’s Red Mill vegi soup mix (or a combo of the beans above)
8 c. chicken stock or veggie broth
1 Tbs. curry powder (a mix of coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, red pepper, and onion)
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
salt and pepper (if you have citrus salt on hand, this is a good time to use it)
parsley
lemonDirections:
1. Saute onion and carrots in butter & oil in Dutch oven over medium heat for 10 minutes, until onions are translucent.
2. Add potatoes, soup mix, broth, and spices (everything except parsley and lemon), and cook covered over medium-low heat for approximately an hour or until the peas have all but disappeared and the lentils are soft. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice to brighten it up.