This fragrant Indian Mulligatawny Soup recipe is spiced with curry and made from creamy red lentils, carrots, apples, and coconut milk. Make a double batch and freeze the leftovers!
I want to spend the next month eating nothing but this Indian soup.
I have a terrible habit of over-doing it at the Indian food buffet, to the point where I have to un-do the button on my jeans and pull my shirt down over the top of my pants while I waddle out to the car.
This soup absolutely triggered that same can’t-stop-eating feeling, and I didn’t regret it one bit!
How to Make Mulligatawny Soup
Just look at these beautiful ingredients! Lentils, apples, ginger, garlic, onions, red jalapenos, carrots and fragrant spices.
It’s so thick it’s almost more like a stew.
Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and jalapeno, then sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions have softened.
Add the garlic, ginger, apples, and diced tomatoes to the pot. Sauté for another 3 minutes.
Then add in all of the spices and toss to coat.
Add in the lentils and broth and let the contents come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Puree about 75% of the ingredients using either an immersion blender after transferring a portion of the contents to a bowl to not be pureed. If you don’t have an immersion blender, then you can transfer a portion of the contents a standard blender. Leaving some of the chunks whole adds a nice texture and consistency to the soup.
Return the soup to the pot if needed.
Then stir in the coconut milk. Taste, and adjust salt and black pepper as needed.
Serve topped with cashew and scallions along with naan bread for dipping.
It’s a masterpiece! For your mouth!
Vegetarian Mulligatawny soup is a traditional Indian dish and the recipe is really easy to make.
Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list, it just calls for a bunch of familiar produce and a little digging around in your spice rack.
I used my very favorite cooking pot for this Mulligatawny recipe, but any good-sized pot should do the trick.
Many Mulligatawny Soup recipes call for pureeing all of the ingredients until completely smooth.
I prefer a little more texture than that in my meals, so I left lots of delicious chunks of apples, carrot, onions, and tomatoes to add a bit of interest.
I used my special hand blender for this, but you could also use a regular counter top blender to do the job.
This soup is full of vibrant flavor but is also warm and comforting. Perfect for this time of year, and just insanely delicious with a piece of homemade naan bread.
I used to be so afraid of making soups because I thought they would take all day and require all sorts of crazy steps (I think I get this idea from Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon).
This just takes about 15 minutes of real work.
Well, what are you waiting for?
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Indian Mulligatawny Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter - or vegetable oil for vegan
- 1 yellow onion - chopped
- 1 carrot - peeled and diced
- 1 red jalapeno - seeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves - minced
- 2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger root
- 2 small firm apples - peeled, cored and diced
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup red lentils - uncooked
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2/3 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Roasted cashews for garnish
- Chopped cilantro and/or scallions for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and jalapeno, then saute for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions have softened.
- Add the garlic, ginger, apples, and diced tomatoes to the pot. Saute for another 3 minutes, then add in all of the spices and toss to coat. Add in the lentils and broth and let the contents come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Puree about 75% of the ingredients using either an immersion blender or by transferring a portion of the contents to the bowl of a standard blender. Leave some of the chunks whole, as it adds a nice texture and consistency to the soup. Return the soup to the pot if needed, then stir in the coconut milk. Taste, and adjust salt and black pepper as needed.
- Serve topped with cashew and scallions along with naan bread for dipping.
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I can not say enough good things about this soup!! Easy to make, fantastic taste, economical , stores well, wonderful texture . It even makes me, a very armature cook, look like I know what I am doing.
Hi Bob, thank you for the kind words. I think you are no longer an amateur cook!
Super yum! Amazing flavors (this is not a bashful dish). I’ve never had the authentic version, so I can’t compare it to traditional/non-vegan mulligatawny. I made this for friends, and we all went back for seconds.
Truly phenomenal recipe – even a beginner like me can make it I’ve made it multiple times – I definitely recommend leaving it a bit “chunky” – I add a little brown basmati rice for each serving – its awesome!
Excellent soup. We also include kale when cooking, then blend with an immersion blender. Freezes well.
Great recipe, easy to make and very tasty. Made for lunches, not sure the smell of the fragrant spices agreed with everyone in the office. I have a private office so I think it will stop me from brining it in again tomorrow. Definitely a keeper. I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk because it was what I had on hand. It was delicious!