If you’re like me, and you’re a highly esteemed scholar of food history as it relates to Europeans aggressively roaming the earth and changing their cooking styles and the food-preparing habits of the people they met as they traveled… Okay, obviously I’m not an esteemed scholar of anything. But I am a bit of a buff, when it comes to the role of food in the history of colonialism. As I’ve mentioned before, in relation to savory pastries. Anyway! If this kind of thing interests you at all, than you’ll have some thoughts about Mulligatawny. I think the name means “pepper water,” and as I understand it, the soup came about because somebody was trying to make Indian flavors palatable to Englishmen. But it became hugely popular! And the whole notion of the soup is completely open to interpretation. You could put anything in there and call it mulligatawny! I made this soup thinking about a mulligatawny I ate at an Indian restaurant somewhere just outside of London, when I was about 7 years old. I remember apples. I remember pleasant spices. I remember a tawny color. And that’s about it! But something must have worked on some strange level, because my Isaac, who is 6, and who generally won’t eat much of anything unless it’s pale and has lots of butter on it…asked for 3 helpings of this soup!!

Here’s Dead Milkman Punk Rock Girl, which really has nothing to do with mulligatawny, but it’s so stuck in my head! And it’s a good song for valentine’s day tommorrow!

1 largish shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 chunk of ginger about 1 inch in cubic measure

dice all of these and then process them into a rough paste.

Warm some olive oil in a large soup pan.

1/3 cup white wine

1/2 cup cashews
1 T tomato paste
1/2 cup (or more! if you like it) coconut milk
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t. each cardamom, coriander, cinnamon and allspice

Combine all of the above (from cashews to allspice) in a processor and process until quite smooth.

3 medium apples – peeled and cut into 1/3 inch dice
3 largish carrots – peeled and cut into 1/3 inch dice
2 T basmati rice
2 T red lentils

veg stock (about 3 or 4 cups)
lemon juice, salt and pepper

Okay…you’ve warmed the olive oil in a soup pan. Now add the shallot ginger paste. When it seems cooked through and starting to brown, add the wine. Cook till the wine is thickened.

Add the carrot and apple, red lentils and uncooked rice, and cook till they start to brown a bit and seem soft. 5–10 minutes, maybe?

Then add the coconut cashew paste. Stir to cook through. Add veg stock (or water) to cover by about an inch.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer till the carrot and apple are softish.

Add a dash of lemon juice, some salt and lots of black pepper. (You could also add a dollop of butter, if you like that sort of thing. It will intensify all of the other flavors!)

And that’s all folks!!