Vegan Bites: Mulligatawny

 Mulligatawny

Indian food is one of my favourites.
This hearty Indian classic combines warm spices and coconut milk for a creamy soup.

Mulligatawny

~1 onion

~3 stalks celery

~3T olive oil

~4 cloves garlic

~2t ginger

~2 green chilli’s

~1/4t cinnamon, cloves

~2t ground coriander, cumin

~1t turmeric

~4 pods cardamom, bruised

~1T fresh curry

~1 carrot, apple, potatoe

~1c Masoor dhal (red lentils)

~8c broth

~1T tamarind concentrate

~1T lemon juice

~2c coconut milk

~fresh cilantro

Sauté onion, garlic, celery, ginger and spices lightly. Add remaining ingredients to and including broth, simmer 15 minutes or until veggies and lentils tender. Process in blender. Add remaining & heat.

Top with toasted coconut and fresh cilantro.
Serve over jasmine or basmati rice. Yum!!

Turmeric

When we were shopping at an Asian grocers, we found fresh turmeric; a member of the ginger family.
The curcumin gives this rhizome it's musty flavour, but surprisingly it's pretty mild when fresh, so we also added the dried and powdered version from the pantry.

Arroy D

Putting in a plug for Aroy-D, this is by far the best coconut milk I've found on the market and it has been available in most countries we've traveled to. Possibly the healthiest, purest version too.

Tamarind Paste

Tamarind, otherwise known as the 'Indian Date' can be found in a variety of warm climate countries. I remember seeing them all over dry ground in South and Central America. People would pull them open and eat the chewy dark fruit around the pit or make a sour juice and add sugar. Apparently not only a culinary plant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarind