MULLIGATAWNY. MAKE IT YOURS.

Spicy, stewy and soupy, it’s just the thing for a cold winter's day or night.

It’s a strange creature, mulligatawny; the sort of thing that happens when two cultures collide and pick the bits they like from the other.

Basically, Tamil pepper-broth met English veggie soup in the late eighteenth century and had a good time.

From the same Anglo-Indian stable as kedgeree, it’s hearty without being heavy, and comes with a good curry hit ameliorated through lentils and vegetables.

Make it your own. It’s not set in stone.

The most excellent Madhur Jaffrey says there are hundreds of recipes for mulligatawny soup in India, and all are slightly different. Let’s keep that going.

It’s most often made with chicken, and in quite modest quantities. I’ve made this version with diced lamb (gleaned from a couple of lamb chops) because I like how lamb softens into the soup as it simmers. But if you have leftover poached or roast chicken, just shred it and swirl it into the soup in the last five or ten minutes instead. It’s also perfect without any meat at all, like a super-charged vegetable dahl.

Some recipes add half a cup of uncooked basmati or jasmine rice to the soup along with the lentils, which does a good job of thickening it - but be aware you will need more liquid, as it will be absorbed by the rice. Others suggest serving mulligatawny with rice on the side, so everyone can add it to their bowl at the table as they wish.

The stock can be chicken or vegetable or both. Chuck in a can of chopped tomatoes and their juices as well if you need more height and colour.

Best lentils to use are split red lentils, moong dal, which turn a pale sunset gold.

A lot of older recipes add a diced granny smith apple as well, possibly to appropriate an Indian fruit such as mango. No real need.

Curry leaves! Not at all necessary but gee, they give it an edge.

To serve, add a spoonful of yoghurt, or coconut cream from the top of the can. Not a fan? Just a squeeze of lime, then. No? Okay, fine. It’s your mulligatawny, not mine.

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 200 g lamb, diced

• 1 onion, finely diced

• 2 celery stalks, sliced

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 potato, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

• half mild red chilli, finely sliced (or chilli flakes)

• 1.5 tbsp Madras or your fave curry powder

• Half tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp salt

• half tsp finely ground black pepper

• 200 g split red lentils, rinsed and drained

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1.2 litres stock or stock and water

• chopped coriander to serve

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large fry pan, and fry the diced lamb until it changes colour. Remove and set aside.

Add 2 tbsp oil and fry the onion, celery and carrot until they soften, add the potato, garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for 3 minutes.

Return the diced lamb to the pan and add the curry powder, salt and pepper, tossing well.

Add the rinsed lentils, tomato paste and stock, stirring well.

Bring almost to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until everything is nicely soft, melty and thickened.

Ladle into warm bowls, scatter with coriander and serve. Serves 2 big or 4 small.

The obligatory before shot.

I seem to remember ordering mulligatawny once in the Tiffin Room at Raffles in Singapore, and it came surrounded by little dishes of chutney, basmati rice and papadums. But I may have dreamed it.

Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments and opinionated thoughts. Special thanks to Terry for chopping all the vegetables, yay. And for dissuading me from making a seafood version of mulligatawny just so I could call it mulligaprawny.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s only fair, folks.