A Mulligatawny soup recipe is a must-have in your spicy recipe repertoire.
Learn how to make the mulligatawny soup from scratch easily. This Indian chicken curry soup is a flavor experience and will warm up your body with comforting flavors.
Whether you warm your self up during cold nights or you just want a comforting flavor blast this wonderful day, a homemade Mulligatawny soup recipe will be your best friend in any case.
This British-Indian Mulligatawny soup is a healthy change – it’s going to be your go-to dish when you are out of cooking ideas and you are super hungry.
Easy to recreate, the Indian Mulligatawny soup recipe doesn’t have any special rules. You just throw in all the ingredients, let it cook and submerge yourself into the flavor experience.
What is the Indian mulligatawny soup made of?
The spiced Mulligatawny soup recipe is a balanced nutritious dish.
While there are many variations out there, an Indian Mulligatawny soup usually consists of the following ingredients:
- Flavorful Chicken (however you can turn your Mulligatawny Vegetarian by omitting the chicken)
- Rice which thickens the soup and lends a lovely consistency
- Red Split Lentils to add Protein and other nutrients to your healthy eating habits
- Assorted Vegetables, usually that depends on what’ s in the pantry but of course, I have my favorite ingredients
- Selected aromatic Spices to turn the soup into a perfection in itself.
Therefore, you can confidently add this chicken curry soup aka Indian Mulligatawny, to your Indian soup recipes collection.
I switched the status of this hearty soup from normal, random recipe to a treasured essential in my recipe collection.
As a result, it turned into a must make dish when the days get shorter and the temperatures drop and I love a bowl full of Indian Mulligatawny soup recipe with freshly baked homemade 30-minute dinner rolls. Hence it’s an easy dinner and it’s so good!
Where did mulligatawny soup come from?
Mulligatawny soup sounds very Indian and its roots are in India’s past. The soup was prepared for the British when they ruled the whole Indian subcontinent before the Indian independence in the 1940s.
The name and preparation came from the south Indian Milagu “soup”, which comes from the Tamil meaning pepper Water. Mulligatawny soup is based on Indian cuisine, it’s a chicken curry soup
Soups are not part of the Indian culture, however, dishes such as Pepper water, tomato water, aka rasam soups do make an appearance in the traditional regional cooking.
Mulligatawny soup by itself is rather unknown in rural India and makes only an appearance in Hotel menus (not to be confused with the roadside eaters known as hotels as well) and in the cities as a modern dish.
That again proves that this Indian fusion export is a favorite in the English speaking western world!
Is mulligatawny soup spicy?
As it is with any Indian based meal, it depends on the perspective. What is spicy to one, might be mild to another.
My chicken curry soup is very mildly spiced from a westerners point of view.
From an Indian perspective, it’s not spicy. Somebody who has never eaten spice before in his or her life will experience the mulligatawny soup spicy.
Remember, the amount of Chilli spice used in a dish usually creates the heat in any meal.
My recipes always use less red
Mulligatawny soup recipe – How to make Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Onion
- 1 small Green Chili Pepper
- 1.8 ounces Celery stalk
- 1 small Carrot
- 4.6 ounces Potato
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic *see Notes
- 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
- 1 Chicken Breast Lobe
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Coriander Seed Powder
- 2 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 1/2 cups Water
- 2 1/2 cups Chicken stock
- 1 Apple
- 2 small Bay leaves
- 1/2 cup Red Split Lentils (Masoor dal)
- 1/2 grams Rice
- 1 Tablespoon Yogurt to garnish
Instructions
- Start by preparing your cleaned/peeled ingredients.Chop your onion and chili. Cut your celery stalk into slices, your carrot, and potato into small cubes. Place the oil into a pot and fry your onion with the chili and celery until soft. Then add the carrot and stir-fry for a minute.
- Continue to add in the potato and stir-fry for a minute. Then add the ginger garlic paste (or finely chopped ginger and garlic) as well as the Curry powder and stir fry once again for a minute.
- Next, add in the small cut chicken breast and stir fry once again for a minute. Now you can throw in the turmeric, cumin, coriander powder and stir fry again. Continue to pour in the tomato puree salt and pepper and stir fry the whole content. Pour in the water and chicken stock and mix well.
- At that point, we peel and cut the apple into small cubes. The apple will give this dish the special zing you are looking for and you will never want to miss it. Add the apple to the soup with the bay leaves, clean lentil and rice. Mix the whole content well and cook for minimum 30 minutes on normal to slow heat until the soup thickened.
- If it gets to dry you can add some liquid during the cooking process. Make sure the lentil and ingredients are soft and properly cooked before serving. Serve hot with some yogurt as garnish.
Notes
Nutrition
Popular dishes like the Mulligatawny soup:
- Vegetable Korma
- Lentil Masoor Dal Curry
- Spiced Pumpkin Puree with Carrot
Dear reader, do you enjoy spicy soups?
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Love this soup! So many different ways to make Mulligatawny Soup, and I’ve never had a bad version. Particularly like yours — such a nice balance of flavors. Plus I always enjoy using red lentils. Thanks!
Can you believe I’ve never made nor tasted mulligatawny soup? But it’s getting cooler here and a piping hot bowl would sure hit the spot. SO good to see a couple new blog posts from you, Helene! xo
I haven’t had Mulligatawny Soup in years – I need to fix that straight away! It’s such a wonderful soup and I love your recipe. You’ve put in so many lovely layers of flavour. I can’t wait to give it a try!
This soup looks so nourishing.
This looks like such a delicious soup! Perfect for cozy days inside!
Never heard of this soup but based on the ingredients I’m a fan already!
Whoa,thought it’s hard but it’s so easy to prepare!I love vegetables and spices,did you know that?
That is one comforting bowl of soup that I don’t mind having right now. It’s been a really long time since I made something similar at home.
Yum! Looks so good. Perfect for the colder months ahead!
I have always wanted to try this soup. It sounds so delicious. I just know the leftovers would be fantastic. I would have to make a HUGE pot…we all know comfort food tastes better the next day. Perfect for the cold weather season.
Never heard of this recipe but looks fantastic. I am a lentil and Indian food fan I need to make this recipe soon.
I had a hard time pronouncing this when explaining it to my OH (any tips?) We are a huge fan of Indian food but haven’t tried many soups. This sounds delicious.
I have never tried this soup before. I always thought it might be too hard to make. But you have explained it so well. Saving this for the cold months.
I have not had mulligatawny in the last two years. I need to make this soon. My kids use to love this so much. Love the color on this soup
It is getting to be soup season where I live … this is just in time. I love how thick and full of great things it is. Soup that you can make a meal of is my favorite kind of soup!
I have not made mulligatawny soup with rice and vegetables. This soup looks so hearty and can be a perfect dinner recipe. Love all the soup recipes this time of the year.
This soup looks delicious! With the cold weather starting to settle in, I am always looking for soups and stews to warm us up! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe out!
I have not heard of this type of soup before, but it looks so warm and comforting. What a great color broth too!
I’ve never made nor tasted mulligatawny soup. It’s something I keep meaning to try, I love your step by step photos.. definitely try this this winter
It has been quite some time since I’ve had mulligatawny soup but this looks so delicious! Wish I had a cup of it right now.
I love every single thing about this recipe and will be making it soon. What a savory and comforting meal. Love it.
I’ve read about this soup in some of the novels that I read and I’ve always wanted to try it!! The name alone is exotic and thinking of the delicious Indian spices in it makes my mouth water. We do love spicy so this would be right up our alley.
I love a good soup and this one looks so incredible and full of flavor! I always think of the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi and Elaine saying “mulligatawny!” It’s hilarious, if you haven’t seen it.
I love soup, especially this time of year. I must give this one a try. It looks delicious and I really like lentils.
I have a friend who swears by this soup. She’d be delighted if I tried a recipe and shared it with her, yum!
Great job Helene, this is one of my favourite soups & I reckon you’ve done it proud here! 🙂
Jane x
It has been long time I had Mulligatawny soup. Your soup has lot flavor and layers with veggies and chicken I can have it during cold nights.
I’ve never heard of this soup before but I love everything that’s in it, can’t wait to give it a go!
I have to give this soup a try. Every time I come across a recipe for this, I am always intrigued by the flavour profile, And the name is fun too. Perfect for the winter months…I need to find time to make this!!
I am a soup lover and i can’t wait for this new mulligatawny soup recipe.
This looks great! I’ve been trying to make my favorite Indian dishes at home because it’s really hard for me to eat at restaurants these days, so I appreciate any and all recipes of my takeout favorites.
Mulligatawny soup was always my dad’s favourite and I can see why now, I really must make this as my hubby love curry and spice too:-)
Wow this soup looks amazing! I have never heard of it but love how it has so many veggies!
So warming and delicious. I love that it’s got all the veg, protein and carbs needed to be a complete meal in a bowl.
This sounds so hearty! I’ve only had GREAT mulligatawny soup once and the rest could not compare. Your recipe may be something I’d recreate soon, though!
This looks so warm and satisfying. Perfect for a chilly winter day!
This soup sounds like the perfect thing to have on a cold, snowy day. I can’t wait to make it!
I love lentils!! And I love putting them in soup 🙂 This looks so yummy and healthful!
I have never tried mulligatawny soup before but by looking at the ingredient list I need to try it. It sounds like it’s very flavorful. My kind of soup!
I’ve never heard of Mulligatawny soup, but it sounds delicious. And it looks very easy to make
Looks so delicious and warming for winter!!!
This sounds so warm and comforting! I could eat soup everyday, I’ll have to try this soon 🙂
We love Mulligatawny soup but never tried making the non-veg version, I look forward to trying this!
It’s soup season and this soup sounds like a treat – great flavors and color with plenty of spices.
Love soups..this one looks so comforting and appetizing too. Nice balance of flavors.
Almost ashamed to admit I never had this before but I always wanted to. You just gave me a delicious reason to try it SOON! Love your step by step pics!
I’ve never made this soup before but I love Indian food! What a great way to try new flavors this winter!
I’ve never made this soup before…. and I make a lot of soups during the colder months! These flavors sound fantastic together… adding this one to my list to make! 😉