Linda Taylor, amongst others, asked where the recipe for my green mulligatawny soup had gone. It's a fair question — and the answer involves a rainstorm, a flooded kitchen, and a notice board in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I did indeed create a green mulligatawny soup recipe. I had several attempts — lots of fresh coriander and mint — and eventually created a written recipe which I tweaked several times. It never quite got near the original served at The Taj Mahal in Streatham, but it was getting closer.
Spices for the rescue — mulligatawny soup recipe — Casa Adora
Then came the storm. My kitchen roof developed a leak, the kitchen flooded, and the recipe pinned to my notice board — directly under the leak — got thrown out in the clean-up. Since then I never found the enthusiasm to start again.
However, completely by chance — while looking for something else entirely — I came across a handwritten note containing the ingredients of my mulligatawny soup recipe. Not the method, not the quantities, just the ingredients. It's a starting point. Have a go, experiment, and let me know how you get on.
The Rescued Mulligatawny Soup Ingredients
carrots
celery
chicken thighs
coconut milk
coriander seeds
curry leaves
garlic
fresh ginger
leeks
limes
fresh mint
turmeric
black peppercorns
basmati rice
chicken stock
cumin seeds
fresh coriander
Looking at that list now, it tells its own story. The curry leaves and coriander seeds point to a South Indian base. The coconut milk explains the body. The leeks are unexpected — not a classic Indian ingredient, but clearly doing something important. The fresh coriander and mint at the end are the whole point: that's where the green comes from, and why every other mulligatawny I'd ever tasted got it so badly wrong.
It's not a method. It's not quantities. But it's enough to work with.
The Recipe — Finally
The ingredients list eventually became a proper recipe. Read my green mulligatawny soup recipe and see how far we've come.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef.
Fresh coriander — the green is everything — Casa Adora
