Mulligatawany soup

I had this soup in a restaurant called Banana Leaf in Versova, Mumbai on my last trip to India. It was the first time ever I had it and totally loved it. Very satisfying, felt completely full and yet light. So I decided to make it at home. I browsed through a number of recipes on the internet, and finally I made it in the following way:

This recipe gives about 6 cups of soup depending on the consistency.

Ingredients

1/2 cup yellow moong dal
1/4 cup basmati rice
3/4 cup chopped carrot (1 small carrot about 6 inches long)
1 cup or 1 stick leek, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped cabbage
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
4-5 fresh curry leaves
11/2 tsp curry powder (or you could even add 1 two curry powder and 1/2 tsp sambhar masala)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt to taste
6 cups vegetable stock (you can use store-bought, I made mine the previous day using my recipe below)
1 tbsp lemon juice (juice of one lemon)

Method

First, begin with preparing the rice, dal and veggies.

1. Rinse the dal several times under running water until the water runs clear and soak it for 30 minutes to 2-3 hours.
2. Rinse the rice in the same way and soak it for 30 minutes.
3. Wash, peel, wash again, and dice the carrots.
4. Wash and remove the outer layer of the leek. Chop it roughly and soak in water to remove the dirt that may be trapped within the layers.
5. Peel, wash and chop an onion to get 1/2 cup.
6. Remove the outer layers of the cabbage that may be a bit wilted or spotted. Now, place the cabbage root side down and cut it along the middle into two halves. Since we need only 1/2 cup of cabbage, chop only a quarter section of the cabbage. Discard the hard stem bit.
7. One stick of celery will make about 1/2 cup. Cut out the ends that may be a bit brown, peel the celery as you would a carrot. This is to remove the strings. If the leaves at the top are fresh and green, then you may reserve them for garnish later. Otherwise, discard.
8. Wash the curry leaves and pat them dry.
9. Drain the water from the rice and dal and keep aside.

Now, begin cooking as follows:

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pressure cooker.
2. Add onions, carrots and leeks and stir-fry for a minute or two.
3. Add the rice and dal, and mix. Stir fry for another minute or two.
4. Add 4 cups of vegetable stock and salt to taste.
5. Cover the cooker, place the weight and cook for one whistle.
6. Turn the stove off and let the cooker cool down. If in a hurry, place the cooker under running water in the kitchen sink. Make sure the water does not go through the pressure valve.  
7. Add more vegetable stock up to 2 cups to the cooker if required. Blend the rice, dal and veggies together with a hand blender, use a blender if you don't have a hand blender. 

Now, for tempering the soup and adding any vegetables that you don't want blended into the soup:

1. Heat 2 tsps oil in a thick-bottomed soup/stew pot.
2. Add a pinch of hing, and 1 tsp mustard seeds.
3. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add the curry leaves.
4. Add celery and cabbage, stir together for a minute or two.
5. Add 1 1/2 tsp of curry powder, and 1/2 tsp of chill powder.
6. Stir for 2-3 minutes before adding the dal-rice to the pot. Pour the dal and rice into the pot facing away from you.
7. Give it all a light mix and adjust the salt if required.
8. Garnish with chopped celery leaves and/or coriander leaves.

Mulligatawny soup

Mulligatawny soup with my harissa as garnish 

My vegetable stock:

3 carrots, washed it well and chop it roughly (no need to peel)
3 sticks celery, washed well, topped and tailed, and chopped roughly
1 brown onion (the size of a tennis ball), peeled, washed and quartered
4-5 florets of broccoli (you could even use the hard stem part)
4-5 florets of cauliflower (you could even use the hard stem part)
1/2 fennel bulb (use the fronds, leaves if fresh), chopped roughly (optional)
8-10 whole black pepper
1 bay leaf
4-5 cloves
2-inch cinnamon stick
8 cups of water
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat 2 tsp oil in a deep stock pot big enough to hold 2 liters of water and the veggies.
2. Add black pepper, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick to the oil and fry for a minute.
3. Add the onion, celery, fennel and carrots and fry for two minutes.
4. Add broccoli, cauliflower and fry for another minute or two.
5. Add 8 cups of water and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer until the water is reduced to two-thirds or half the quantity.
7. Now, drain the stock through a colander. Discard the vegetables and spices.
8. Cool and transfer to a container that can go in the fridge.
9. Cool completely before storing it in the fridge.

Notes:

1. This soup is a complete meal with dal, rice and veggies.
2. Rice gives this soup a thick consistency. You could reduce the quantity of rice if you like or omit it altogether.
3. You can add any veggies you like really, and celery is optional. But I wanted to use the celery I had at home and did not want to blend it along with the dal, rice and veggies. So I decided to chop it fine and add it along with the cabbage in the end.
4. You can use plain water instead of vegetable stock. In which case, I would do either of these two things, one is to make a bouquet garni with 8-10 black pepper, 4-5 cloves, 2- inch cinnamon stick and in Step 13, instead of adding vegetable stock, you would add this bouquet garni and 4 cups of water to the pressure cooker. Discard it before blending the soup.
5. To make a bouquet garni, use a small cheesecloth bag (simple), or put these spices on a small piece of muslin cloth, fold up the corners and tie with a string to make a small bundle (simple enough..).
6. The other option is to make use of pepper water in Step 13. Add 8-10 black pepper, 4-5 cloves, 2-inch cinnamon stick and bay leaf to 8 cups of water and simmer until the water is reduced to 6 cups or 4 cups.