Chef Thomas
A Proper Chicken Broth
Sunday's roast chicken, simmered slowly on Monday with carrots, celery, leeks, and thyme into a bowl of clear, golden broth that smells like the kitchen is paying attention.
Culinary Explorer
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Mulligatawny
Created by Chef Thomas
A bowl of spiced, golden broth thickened with lentils and apple, the kind of soup that crossed an ocean two centuries ago and found its way into the British kitchen because it belonged there.
Soups & Stews
British
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
The wind changed last week. Not dramatically, but enough that you noticed. The mornings are darker. The garden has given up on summer and started thinking about root vegetables. That's when this soup starts making sense.
Mulligatawny came from India to Britain by way of homesick officers and their cooks, and somewhere in the crossing it became something else entirely. The Tamil original, milagu tannir, means pepper water. What arrived in English kitchens kept the warmth but added lentils, apple, cream, whatever the larder suggested. Two hundred years of adaptation, and now it belongs here as much as it ever belonged anywhere. I won't pretend this is an Indian recipe. It isn't. It's a British one, with Indian memory running through it like a thread.
I make it when the first proper cold arrives, usually October, sometimes late September if the year turns early. The spices fill the kitchen with the kind of warmth that central heating can't replicate. The lentils dissolve into the broth and thicken it. The apple, a good sharp Bramley, gives it a sweet-sour quality that stops the whole thing feeling heavy. Chicken thighs cooked on the bone and then shredded back through. It's a generous bowl. The kind you eat slowly, both hands round the warm stoneware, while the evening settles in around you.
I wrote it down in the notebook years ago: "Mulligatawny. Tuesday. October rain. Fed four. Silence at the table, which is the best review a soup can get."
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sunflower or vegetable oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
celery
Quantity
2 sticks
finely chopped
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
sliced
fresh ginger
Quantity
thumb-sized piece
peeled and grated
medium curry powder
Quantity
1 tablespoon
ground coriander
Quantity
1 teaspoon
ground cumin
Quantity
half a teaspoon
ground turmeric
Quantity
quarter teaspoon
cayenne pepper
Quantity
pinch
red lentils
Quantity
100g
rinsed
Bramley apple
Quantity
1 large
peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
chicken stock
Quantity
1 litre
chicken thighs
Quantity
2
bone-in, skin-on
lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
fresh coriander leaves (optional)
Quantity
small handful
natural yoghurt (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsalted butter | 2 tablespoons |
| sunflower or vegetable oil | 1 tablespoon |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| celeryfinely chopped | 2 sticks |
| carrotpeeled and finely chopped | 1 medium |
| garlicsliced | 3 cloves |
| fresh gingerpeeled and grated | thumb-sized piece |
| medium curry powder | 1 tablespoon |
| ground coriander | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | half a teaspoon |
| ground turmeric | quarter teaspoon |
| cayenne pepper | pinch |
| red lentilsrinsed | 100g |
| Bramley applepeeled, cored, and roughly chopped | 1 large |
| chicken stock | 1 litre |
| chicken thighsbone-in, skin-on | 2 |
| lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| fresh coriander leaves (optional) | small handful |
| natural yoghurt (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed saucepan or stockpot
- •Stick blender
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Build the base
Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat. When the butter foams, add the onion, celery, and carrot with a good pinch of salt. Stir them through the fat and turn the heat down. Let them soften for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the kitchen starts to smell sweet and calm. No colour. Patience here pays for everything that follows.
Butter and oil together. The butter gives flavour and the oil stops it burning. A small thing that makes a real difference when you are cooking onions slowly. - 2
Toast the spices
Add the garlic and ginger and stir for a minute until fragrant. Then add the curry powder, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir everything through the softened vegetables and let the spices cook in the fat for a full two minutes. You will know when they are ready because the smell will change, from raw and dusty to warm and round, something you want to lean into rather than pull back from. Trust your nose. It knows before you do.
- 3
Add lentils, apple, stock
Tip in the red lentils and the chopped apple. Stir them through the spiced vegetables so everything is coated. Pour in the stock and nestle the chicken thighs into the liquid, skin side up. Bring to a gentle simmer. Not a rolling boil. A quiet, steady blip. Put a lid on, slightly ajar, and let it cook for thirty-five to forty minutes. The lentils will dissolve into the broth, the apple will fall apart, and the chicken will be tender enough to pull from the bone without any resistance.
Bone-in, skin-on thighs give the broth body and richness that breast meat never will. The bones do quiet work while you do something else. - 4
Shred the chicken
Lift the chicken thighs out onto a board. They will be very soft. Let them cool for a minute, then pull the meat from the bones in rough shreds, discarding the skin and bones. Set the shredded chicken aside.
- 5
Blend and finish
Blend about half the soup with a stick blender, leaving the rest chunky. This gives you a broth that is thick enough to feel substantial but still has texture, somewhere between a smooth soup and a stew. Stir the shredded chicken back in. Add the lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper. Taste it. The lemon should brighten everything without announcing itself. If the soup tastes flat, it needs more salt. If it tastes dull, more lemon. Season and taste. Then taste again. Ladle into warm bowls. A spoonful of yoghurt, a scattering of coriander leaves if you have them, and bread on the side.
Chef Tips
- •The apple is not negotiable. A sharp cooking apple, a Bramley if you can get one, dissolves into the broth and gives mulligatawny its particular character: that quiet, fruity sourness beneath the spice. An eating apple won't do the same job. It will hold its shape and taste sweet rather than tart. You need the apple to vanish and leave its flavour behind.
- •Use a curry powder you trust, or make your own if the mood takes you. But this is a weeknight soup, not a project. A good-quality medium powder from a jar is what this recipe was built on. I keep one in the cupboard that I've used for years. Find yours.
- •Don't blend all of it. Half and half gives you the best of both: a broth thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, with enough texture to make each mouthful interesting. A completely smooth mulligatawny loses its soul.
- •This soup improves overnight. The spices settle and deepen. If you can make it the day before you want it, the second bowl will be better than the first. Reheat gently and add a splash of water or stock if it has thickened in the fridge.
Advance Preparation
- •The soup can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. It thickens as it sits. Add a splash of stock when reheating and check the seasoning, as cold dulls the spices.
- •Freezes well for up to three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the hob.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
350 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
830 mg
Total Carbohydrates
32 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
20 g
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