Weekend Cooking: Esther's Mulligatawny Soup

Lately I have been wanting a hot and spicy bowl of Mulligatawny Soup.  I know I have a god one here somewhere, but which one.  This week I tried the one that was stuck with a magnet on my fridge.  It turned out a very nice bowl of soup, but no, it wasn't the one that I was tasting in my imagination.  This is a very hearty, meal in a bowl. 

Esther's Mulligatawny Soup

1 1/2 pound chicken with bone
1 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large piece ginger, minced
2 large celery sticks, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large potato , peeled and cubed
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
pinch dried red chili
1 cup tomato paste (I used a 19 oz can of diced tomato)
4 tbsp dry basmatai rice
4 tbsp dry red lentils
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice (I used slices of lime)
Chopped parsley, for garnish

• In a stock pot, place chicken and add enough water just to cover.  Bring to a boil for 15 minutes and then simmer until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool.  Strain broth and remove fat using a paper towel.
• To broth, add onion, garlic, ginger, celery, carrot, potato, bay leaf, curry, cumin, coriander, pepper, red chili, and tomato paste.  Bring to a boil and boil until vegetables are half cooked.  Add basmati rice and let it boil until rice is cooked.  Add lentils and cook well. (I added the rice and lentils at the same time).
• Once chicken is cool enough to handle, separate meat from bone and chop finely, add to soup with lemon juice and parseley and heat through.  Alternately, use slices of lime or lemon and allow each diner to squeeze fresh juice onto their soup.

Makes 6 servings.  Recipe by Esther Joseph.  This recipe is from an article printed in The Record, (my local paper), follow this link to an article about Esther in the Peterborough Examiner.  It includes recipes for this soup as well as for "Aromatic Parsnip Soup" and "Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Syrup".

For more foodie fun, be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking Post.  You are invited to add a link to your recent food related post.