Muligatawny soup

Stephen_Leak

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

<snip> I might just try my existing Keema minced meat curry, minus the potatoes and peas, but plus some rice and a bit more water!

It works!

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

Makes 2 x 250ml servings

INGREDIENTS

1 clove of garlic
2cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger
2 onions
1 tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
250g of minced meat
200g (½ a 400g tin) of plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon of garam masala
½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric
500ml of water
75g (approx. 100ml by volume) of rice
¼ of a teaspoon of salt
200ml of water

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the ginger and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a saucepan on a low heat. Put the chilli powder, garlic, ginger, mince and onions into the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes until the mince is an even colour, with no pink bits. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Put the juice into a bowl. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the bowl). Put the chopped tomatoes into the bowl. Put half the chopped tomatoes into the pan and save the other half.

Add the garam masala, turmeric, and the 500ml of water. Stir thoroughly.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Put the lid on the saucepan and cook for 15 minutes. Check the water level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

If you want to refrigerate or freeze this soup, allow it to cool and do so now. When you reheat it, resume the recipe from this point.

Check the cooking time on the packet of rice.

Put the 200ml of water, salt and rice into a saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to the boil. Stir once to stop it sticking to the bottom. Turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Put the lid on the pan. Cook until the water is absorbed.

DO NOT STIR!

Take the pan off the heat and let it stand for a couple of minutes. Fluff it up with a fork to separate the grains.

Add the rice to the soup. Mix thoroughly.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use minced beef, lamb, pork or turkey. I’ve specified mince, as it’s the cheapest form of meat and it’s going to be blended. If you’re using a piece of meat, cut it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces.

The quantity of chilli powder above makes for a medium hot soup. For a hot one, increase this to 1½ teaspoons. For a mild one, decrease this to ½ a teaspoon.

You can use arboreo (risotto), basmati or long grain rice.

TIPS

Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.

Basmati is the best all purpose rice. It cooks quickly, it is more fragrant (it’s Hindi for fragrant) than long grain and it also holds together during cooking.

The most important thing about cooking boiled rice is to use twice as much water (by volume) as rice.