Mulligatawny

     The origins of mulligatawny go back to the British occupation of India.  The original mulligatawny was a black pepper broth soup with lentils and few spices.  The original recipe evolved into several mulligatawny varieties in later years.  Curry spices and apples were added in some recipe versions.  Lentils or chicken were part many other mulligatawny recipes.
     Today's recipe is an Australian mulligatawny version that features lamb.  Nowadays, when mulligatawny is mentioned, the lamb version is what most people picture.  Apples are usually part of this style of mulligatawny and the apples naturally sweeten the curry.  There is still a dispute as to whether mulligatawny is a stew or a soup.  Most British stews are rather thick, so mulligatawny is considered to be a soup.
     I have served this mulligatawny soup in many restaurants.  The best mulligatawny clientele that I ever had was when I was a chef at an English Pub.  This Aussie mulligatawny version was a smash hit!  I had to make a double batch every time that I put this soup on the special du jour board at that pub.  The aroma of the lamb in this soup was irresistible!
     
     Mulligatawny:
     This recipe makes 1 large serving or 2 medium servings of soup!
     Heat a sauce pot over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 4 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 teaspoon of chopped shallot.
     Add 2 teaspoons of minced ginger.
     Add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.
     Add 1/4 cup each of these small diced vegetables:
     - onion
     - celery
     - carrot
     - green bell pepper
     - red bell pepper.
     Add 1 fine chopped green onion.
     Saute and stir the vegetables, till they become half way cooked.
     Sprinkle a little bit of flour in the pot, while stirring, to absorb the excess butter and to make a light roux to thicken the soup.  Cook the flour and vegetables for a minute while stirring.
     Add 3 cups of light chicken broth.
     Stir and bring the soup to a boil over medium high heat.
     Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of garam masala.
     Add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of cumin.
     Add 1/4 teaspoon of coriander.
     Add 1 pinch of cayenne pepper.
     Add sea salt.  (Both white pepper and black pepper are already in the Indian garam masala spice mixture.)
     Add 1 peeled seeded apple that is large diced.
     Cut 4 ounces of very thin shaved slices of lean raw lamb leg.
     Chop the thin lamb slices into bite size pieces.
     Add the lamb to the soup.  (It is not necessary to saute the lamb first for this soup, if the lamb meat is thinly sliced.)
     Simmer the soup over low heat for twenty minutes and stir occasionally.
     Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons of plain goats milk yogurt while stirring.
     Ladle the soup into a soup bowl.
     Sprinkle some sliced green onion on the soup.
     Serve with some steamed white rice on the side.
    
     Apple is one of the traditional fruits that is used to sweeten a curry.  The flavor of the soup broth tastes fantastic with the thin shaved lamb.  The mirepoix of the chopped aromatic vegetables adds a gentle depth of flavor.  There should be a larger proportion of  ingredients to the amount of broth in this soup, but not quite enough to put a stew label on this recipe.  This is a tasty mulligatawny!  Yum!  ...  Shawna