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Whatever happened to this soup that I remember fondly. About 15 years ago our supermarket even stopped selling a canned version of it, and now it's even hard to find recipes on EYB! Is it politically incorrect now with its Indian Raj connotations or just old-fashioned?  

Last night I had a go at a Charmaine Solomon recipe for it that used "soup bones", but was pretty disappointed. I remember rice, lush fruity bits and a goldenish curryish colour. That does it. I'm going to buy Madhur Jaffrey's "Ultimate curry bible", because, along with following the curry influence from India around the world, she follows it back to Britain and even has a recipe for Mulligatawny soup. Maybe that's the one I'm looking for. Any other suggestions welcome. Maybe i just can't spell it!

OK, I can't resist a challenge.

I found 3 recipes for mulligatawny soup in my cookbooks that are either not on EYB or unindexed.

Troth Wells' The Spices of Life (unindexed) has a pretty basic version, with loads of spices but only carrots and onions as solid ingredients. Not what you're looking for.

Avanelle Day's The Spice Cookbook (not on EYB) has an eighties version with chicken, carrots, celeriac and rice, but with curry powder as the only spice.

Mary Berry's Classic Home Cooking (unindexed) has a recipe that looks golden on the photo, uses ginger, cinnamon and turmeric, and has apple, carrots and celery (and more vegetables) in the ingredients. If served over rice I think it would get pretty close to what you describe.

Do you want me to copy any of the recipes for you?

I might actually try it myself, as I've never had it before. Indian food is not really part of the Dutch heritage - we usually have Indonesian or Chinese food instead.

(edited to correct typo)

Thanks Wester and Jaelsne for such helpful replies. I have lashed out and ordered the Madhur Jaffrey "Bible" (Published in the USA under a different name). When it turns up, the first thing I try will be the Mulligatawny. I'll let you know how it goes, and maybe take you up on the offer of recipes if it isn't what I hoped for. 

Eurydice,

I just found a Mulligatawny recipe in The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

And it's indexed

Hope it helps.

K

I've read about mulligatawny but never made it, nor eaten it at anybody else's place.  Jane Grigson has a remarkable recipe in her "English Food" (indexed) that calls for a chicken, 2 onions, 3 oz. butter, some amount of curry powder (typo in my copy of the book omits the number of tablespoons), salt, cloves, lemon juice, boiled rice, and ... wait for it ... 6-8 oz. of moist fresh cheese.  Anglo-Indian.  Grigson is always worth trying, in my experience.

xxx, mcvl

Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" has a great chicken mulligatawny soup that calls for red lentils, chicken stock, a potatoe, garlic, fresh ginger, a raw chicken breast, cumen, coriander, lemon juice and tumeric.  It is superb.  I freeze it for work lunches and always have the other nurses in the lunchroom asking me for the recipe once they smell it coming from the microwave.

Mulligatawny is definitely "old-fashioned" and an artifact of the Raj.  That doesn't mean it isn't still a great soup!  If you search recipes in the EYB Library you'll come up with 114 indexed recipes!  So it obviously hasn't gone out of fashion.  You'll find very British or American versions, as well as versions of the soup being made in India today!  Let us know which ones you think are best!

Oh yes! I forgot to report back. The Mulligatawny soup in Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible is very nice indeed, probably more Indian and less "Anglo" than the versions I remember. I've made a note to try Gabriel Gate's version as well which includes dessicated coconut and bananas and "curry powder" and is probably more like the unsophisticated version my Mum used to make.  

There's a recipe in Jane Grigson's English Food. It's fairly basic: lists boiling chicken; onions; curry powder; yogurt cheese; whole cloves; lemons; cooked white rice