Mulligatawny soup
The curried chicken and rice soup that traveled from India to Britain, sweet with apple, warm with spice and softened with coconut milk.
- 50 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.52 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1½ tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 6 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup basmati rice, rinsed
- 1 can light coconut milk
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 440 calories, 28 g protein, 39 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $3.52 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, carrots, celery and apple, the garlic and the ginger. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces on a separate board.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and apple and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, turmeric and tomato paste for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the broth, chicken, rice and salt and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and the chicken is white all the way through.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Stir in the coconut milk and heat for 2 minutes, then squeeze in the lemon.
Low heatTimer: 2 min
Taste for salt and serve with cilantro.
Dolly’s tip: If the curry tastes a little flat, a pinch more salt and another squeeze of lemon wake it right up.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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