Mulligatawny: An East Indian soup having a meat or chicken base and curry seasoning.
It all started because I wanted to try a new recipe for National Soup Month. Of course, I thought of this (that's Larry Thomas as the Soup Nazi):
Kramer is my favorite Seinfield character, and the Soup Nazi's Indian Mulligatawny was his favorite soup. He called the man a "soup artisan," "a genius." It was because of Kramer that Elaine, George, and Jerry checked out that little soup place to begin with. Of course I wanted to make some. Had the real Soup Nazi, Al Yeganeh, put out a cookbook? No such luck.
But Todd Wilbur, known for his recipe knock-offs (McDonald's Big Mac, and various dishes he's tried in famous restaurants), does have a Soup Nazi Mulligatawny recipe posted on his website. Apparently he'd taken home samples from Yeganeh's Soup Kitchen International years ago, and concocted a recipe clone. Though the list of ingredients is long, the directions are simple: just combine everything in a big pot and let it simmer for about 3-4 hours. Yeah, right.
First thing I did was roast some red peppers (though you can use canned peppers if you like). Quartered them, brushed them with canola oil, then broiled them lightly on both sides. Then I tossed all the pieces into a zip-lock bag to let them steam for about 20 minutes. Once cooled, I diced them (I didn't broil them long enough to necessitate removing their skins).
Ready for the broiler.
I got busy slicing and dicing the other veggies: onions, carrots, eggplant, celery, potatoes. I called on a furry kitchen helper to shell about 1/2 cup of pistachio nuts, and squeeze some fresh lemons.
Chop chop chop.
Slice and dice.
Then I tossed everything into my big red soup pot, and let it simmer for a l-o-n-g time. I would have to wait until most of the liquid boiled off, and the soup had the consistency of chili.
I must say our house smelled good all afternoon. I love curried dishes and Indian food in general. The longer you have to wait for something, the higher the level of expectation and anticipation. Would this soup, with its long prep time, measure up? Would I, like George, Elaine, and Jerry, risk being chastised, admonished, and rebuked by a temperamental chef with a thick moustache for just one taste of this soup?
As it turns out, maybe. 
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By: Jama Rattigan,
on 1/13/2010
Blog: jama rattigan's alphabet soup (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Jama Rattigan,
on 1/12/2010
Blog: jama rattigan's alphabet soup (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Source: Bert Christensen's Illustration Gallery
Thanks for trudging in the cold and snow to drop by today!
The soup kettle's on at this very moment, and the savory aroma of Mulligatawny has drifted upstairs to my office. Mmmmm, it's a new recipe, and I can hardly wait to taste it.
While it's simmering, thought I'd share a few more soup picture books. It's the best way I know to properly celebrate National Soup Month. Combine these titles with my first thematic list from 2008 for a hearty, satisfying feast.
BEAN SOUP/SOPA DE FRIJOLES by Jorge Argueta, pictures by Rafael Yockteng (Groundwood Books, 2009). This bilingual free verse recipe poem shows us how to make black bean soup via charming, vivid imagery. After all, soup is more than just soup, especially if it's prepared in "a pot round as the moon and as deep as a little lake." A little boy (with his mother hovering in the background), measures out the ingredients, sorts the beans (which "clink a little song"), mixes everything together, and joyfully anticipates sharing the soup with his family. Love how Argueta captures the loving poetics of soup: garlic comes dressed in a little white dress, beans dance together, and the house "smells wonderful like the earth after the first winter rains." So nourishing! Yockteng's muted palette of browns, blues, and greens enrobes the story in warmth and comfort, and asterisks specify which prep steps require adult assistance.
STINK SOUP by Jill Esbaum, pictures by Roger Roth (FSG, 2004). So how do you feel about tomatoes? Annabelle hates them, but must help put up a mountain of them when she and her mischievous brother, Willie, spend the week at Granny's. If only she hadn't promised Mama to keep Willie out of trouble! His antics compound her tomato misery, as he torments the goat, lassoes the chickens, and climbs up the windmill. Somehow he's got Granny believing all the mayhem is Annabelle's fault, and even worse, they have to eat stewed tomatoes for supper! Poor Annabelle can't bring herself to tell Granny how she really feels, but as luck would have it, Willie messes with a skunk and Granny must make "stink soup" to get rid of the smell. Annabelle's thrilled, as she'd rather bathe in tomato juice than drink it -- and Willie finally gets his comeuppance. Roth's folksy, exuberant illos capture all the energy and wry humor of this lively fun-on-the-farm tale.
BONE SOUP by Cambria Evans (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008). A perfect offering for the ghoulish gourmet, this Halloween friendly adaptation of Stone Soup serves up a cauldron full of deliciously disgusting ingredients: stewed eyeballs, bat wings, frog legs, dried mouse droppings, slime, sludge, even toenail clippings. Finnigin the Eater, a skin-and-bones traveler known far and wide for his ravenous appetite, displays hi