The word mulligatawny is an Anglicized version of a Tamil word meaning 'pepper water' or 'pepper broth', and refers to a curried soup (some of you American readers may recognize it as one of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi's popular dishes). As many of you probably know, the Brits got a little above their station in centuries past and went out and colonized a whole host of other countries the world over, countries which now form part of the Commonwealth. Sixteen of the fifty four Commonwealth countries still have the British monarch as their figurehead. As if that wasn't recompense enough for being subjugated by pasty white Brits for decades, all fifty four also get to take part in the Commonwealth Games, which is kind of like the Olympics, only easier to win medals in, since the USA, China and Russia aren't there. Anyway, I digress. Fact is that the British stationed in India during the time of the British Empire became rather fond of many of the traditional dishes they found there, and brought them home with them. A few more decades of tweaking and twisting to suit British tastes, and you end up with dishes like Mulligatawny.
This recipe comes from a new cookbook I was given recently:
Jamie Oliver is rather a force to be reckoned with in British cooking these days, and has also ventured across the pond to spread his gospel in the ABC show 'Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution' where he took aim at the rising obesity epidemic in the US. He is a man after my own heart in many ways. Firstly, he too believes in reintroducing sadly underused words, one of his favorite being pukka (which incidentally also originates from the British colonization of India, coming from a Hindi and Urdu word literally meaning 'cooked, ripe' and used figuratively in British slang to mean 'for real, genuine'). He also uses words which just sound fabulous (I'm pretty sure he would be a fan of kerfuffle), like blip (dishes don't bubble or simmer in Jamie's kitchen, they blip), and lug (he doesn't measure out a TBSP, but just throws in a lug of olive oil).
Secondly, he has a common sense attitude to food and eating, which I can wholeheartedly agree with, as shown by this section on his 'Food Philosophy' from his website:
"My philosophy to food and healthy eating has always been about enjoying everything in a balanced, and sane way. Food is one of life's greatest joys yet we've reached this really sad point where we're turning food into the enemy, and something to be afraid of. I believe that when you use good ingredients to make pasta dishes, salads, stews, burgers, grilled vegetables, fruit salads, and even outrageous cakes, they all have a place in our diets. We just need to rediscover our common sense: if you want to curl up and eat macaroni and cheese every once in a while – that's alright! Just have a sensible portion next to a fresh salad, and don't eat a big old helping of chocolate cake afterwards."
Yes! THANK YOU!
I tweaked Jamie's recipe a little to make it less of a soup and more of a main dish, and it worked beautifully. Although it has curry spices, it really isn't hot and all three kids slurped it up, then wiped the bowl clean with bread. They were certainly not discombobulated by the experience, and there was no kerfuffle (well no more than usually at dinner time at the Farrar table). If there were ever a dish that deserved to be described as pukka, I believe this is it.
Mighty Mulligatawny
Serves 6
olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1" piece of ginger root, grated
1 red chile, seeded and finely chopped
small bunch of cilantro (coriander leaves in UK)
2 heaped TBSP Patak's mild curry paste (Cost Plus has this, if you can only get medium/hot, then halve quantity)
1 heaped TBSP tomato paste
salt and pepper
3 TBSP HP sauce (Cost Plus again. If you can't get it, then substitute a few good squirts of Worcestershire sauce and some more tomato paste)
5 cups beef stock
1/2 butternut squash (about 12 oz)
3/4 tsp garam masala
1 1/3 cups basmati rice
plain Greek yoghurt to serve
1. In a large pan, brown the beef with olive oil. Should take around 7 minutes, by which time beef should be broken up and starting to turn golden. Stir in onion, carrot, garlic, red bell pepper, ginger and chile, and a splash more oil. Cut off the cilantro leaves and set aside for later, then chop the stalks finely to give 1/4 cup. Add stalks to pan. Cook and stir for around 10 minutes on a medium heat until vegetables have softened.
2. Stir in curry paste, tomato paste, salt and pepper and HP sauce. After a few more minutes, add stock and bring to boil. Put lid on, and leave to bubble gently over medium-low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile cut squash into 1/2" chunks. There is no need to peel it (I was surprised at this, but trust me, it is fine!). In a smaller pan, put a couple of TBSP of olive oil and add squash and garam masala. Put lid on pan and cook for around 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring every few minutes, until squash is softened and golden. Add rice, salt, pepper and 2 2/3 cups water and bring to boil. Put lid on and cook for 8 minutes over medium-low heat. Then turn heat off and leave to steam for further 8 minutes.
4. Fluff the rice up and then tip into the meat mixture and stir together.
5. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yoghurt on the top and a sprinkle of roughly chopped cilantro leaves.
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