Name: Mulligatawny
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp neutral oil; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 carrots (about 200 g), peeled and diced; 3 garlic cloves, grated; 3 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1½ tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp garam masala (a warm North Indian spice blend); 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 tart apple (about 150 g), peeled, cored and diced; 150 g red lentils, rinsed until the water runs clear; 1.5 l chicken stock (check bought stock is gluten-free); 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste; 500 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 400 ml coconut milk; 2–3 tbsp lemon juice; 150 g basmati rice; 1 lemon, cut into wedges; Coriander leaves, to serve

Mulligatawny

Red lentils, apple and toasted curry spices simmered with chicken thighs, blended smooth and finished with coconut milk. The peppery Anglo-Indian classic, with rice and lemon.

By the Soupmap Culinary Team

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 50 min
Total: 1 hr 10 min
Effort: Easy
Serves: 6

Broth richness 6/10

Spice 3/10

Comfort 7/10

Ratings by the Soupmap Culinary Team, not readers.

Method

Build the base

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more.
Turn the heat down to low. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala and black pepper and stir constantly for 1 minute, until they smell toasty and the oil turns golden. If they stick or darken quickly, add a splash of the stock straight away.

Simmer

Add the apple, lentils, stock and salt, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot, then slip in the chicken thighs whole. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils have collapsed and the chicken is cooked through, with no pink in the middle (75°C on a thermometer).
Meanwhile, cook the rice: rinse it, then boil it in plenty of salted water for 10–12 minutes, until just tender. Drain, return it to the pan and keep it covered.

Blend and finish

Lift the chicken onto a board and shred it with two forks.
Blend the soup until smooth with a stick blender, or in batches in a jug blender (fill it no more than half full and hold the lid down with a folded tea towel). Stir in the coconut milk and shredded chicken and bring back to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Don't let it boil hard, or the coconut milk may separate.
Add 2 tbsp of the lemon juice, then taste and add more salt and lemon until the soup tastes bright and peppery rather than heavy. It should be about as thick as single (light) cream; loosen it with a little hot water if needed.
Spoon some rice into each warm bowl, ladle the soup over, scatter with coriander leaves and serve with lemon wedges.

Swaps

Cooking for coeliac disease or an allergy? Check every label: the notes below say which ones matter.

Gluten-free

Already gluten-free as written. Check that the stock and the garam masala are labelled gluten-free, and pick over the lentils for the odd stray grain of wheat or barley before rinsing. If you serve bread alongside, make it gluten-free bread.

Plant-based

Follow the Vegan variation: leave out the chicken, use vegetable stock (check the label: some stock cubes contain milk) and add 50 g more red lentils. With oil and coconut milk, the soup is then vegan; it's softer, more of a spiced lentil soup.
Add chickpeas for bite: stir a drained 400 g tin of chickpeas in with the coconut milk, in place of the shredded chicken.

High-protein

Use 800 g chicken thighs instead of 500 g: about 9 g more protein per bowl. They need the same 25 minutes; check the thickest one is cooked through.
Add chickpeas: each drained 400 g tin (about 240 g) stirred in with the coconut milk adds roughly 3 g per bowl.

Tips

Choose a sharp apple, such as a cooking apple or a tart green eating apple. A sweet one makes the soup cloying; a sharp one gives the gentle sweet-sour balance that makes mulligatawny taste like itself.

Use thighs, not breasts. Thigh meat stays juicy through 25 minutes of simmering; breast turns dry and stringy.

Cook the rice separately rather than in the pot. Rice left in soup keeps swelling and turns leftovers stodgy, and it's easier to cool safely on its own.

Use full-fat coconut milk and shake the can well before opening, so the thick cream and thinner milk are evenly mixed.

Grind the pepper fresh. Pre-ground pepper loses its heat and aroma quickly, and here pepper is a main flavour, not just seasoning.

Make ahead and storage

Cool the soup quickly and refrigerate it within 2 hours; it keeps for 3 days, or 3 months frozen. It thickens as it stands, so loosen it with water as you reheat it to a simmer.

Store the rice separately. Cool it within 1 hour, keep it in the fridge, eat it within 24 hours and reheat it until steaming hot all the way through.

Variations

Vegan: leave out the chicken, use vegetable stock (check it's gluten-free if that matters to you) and add another 50 g red lentils. With coconut milk and oil, the soup is then vegan.

With leftover roast meat: skip the thighs and stir shredded roast chicken or lamb into the blended soup with the coconut milk, simmering until it's piping hot.

With cream: many British versions finish with single cream instead of coconut milk. Stir in 200 ml and heat gently without boiling; the soup is then no longer dairy-free.