🍵 Soups · Anglo-Indian · Level 1
Mulligatawny Soup
The Anglo-Indian pepper water — toor dal and spices blended into a creamy soup. Born in the colonial period from the British desire for soup from Indian rasam.
The Anglo-Indian pepper water — toor dal and spices blended into a creamy soup. Born in the colonial period from the British desire for soup from Indian rasam.
Mulligatawny comes from the Tamil milagu-tannir meaning pepper-water — the British colonial adaptation of South Indian rasam into something resembling a European soup. The vegetarian version uses toor dal as its body, with coconut milk for creaminess, a South Indian spice base, and apple for a traditional Anglo-Indian sweetness. It is thicker than rasam, creamier, and more obviously filling. It is simultaneously a historical document of colonial food culture and genuinely excellent eating.
Heat oil. Cook onion until softened — 5 minutes. Add tomato, apple, turmeric, curry powder and black pepper. Cook until tomatoes break down — 8 minutes.
The apple provides malic acid and natural pectin — the pectin helps body and the malic acid provides a different sourness profile from tamarind or lemon. This is the signature Anglo-Indian addition that distinguishes mulligatawny from rasam. The apple's natural sugars also caramelise with the onion, adding sweetness.
Add cooked toor dal and stock. Blend until smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh strainer for a silky result or leave slightly textured.
Toor dal provides the body — its cooked starch network thickens the soup without cream or flour. Blending integrates the dal starch uniformly through the liquid, producing a smooth, naturally thick consistency.
Return to heat. Add coconut milk and simmer gently 5 minutes. Add salt and lemon juice. Make a mustard-curry leaf tadka and pour over.
Coconut milk is an oil-in-water emulsion — its fat droplets provide creaminess and carry the spice aromatics throughout the soup. Adding it after blending rather than before prevents the fat from being destabilised by the blending process.