Molagu Rasam ~ Mulligatawny Soup

"Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them."

- P. G. Wodehouse

Molagu Rasam ~ Mulligatawny Soup

Last week, life accosted me with a huge googly that left me drained and out of wits for a couple of days. May I add with some amount of pride that I handled with it in a unexpectedly wonderful manner that I never knew I was capable of! Some lessons in life can only be learnt the tough way - facing it head on. I won't deny that it does come with a big dose of adventure so it is all worth it! My practice of 'Conscious Living' helped me a lot.

A couple of weeks back a dear friend, Madhur had asked me to share my recipe for mulligatawny soup. Here it is, a little late but nevertheless I made it. This time, just for her.

Whenever Mummy made molagu rasam at home - usually when one of us had congestions or was sick - she would announce, "today we are having a five star dinner." I do not know of any rustic food that has garnered as much 'hoo-haa' as molagu rasam. Some of you might know it as "Mulligatawny Soup."

Do you know why the witty Mr.Wodehouse says not to stir them? Hmmm.... you could of course stir and drink and find out or you could read further and do the right thing. That is, don't stir! If you can bear the heat of spicy pepper and cumin powders that settle in the rasam you must go ahead and do it. Some people actually love the heat. At a five star you would not get the residue - it would be strained.

And a mulligatawny soup does stir up memories! Of stuffy noses and, times when I was sick and felt I could not digest a thing. At times like this my Mum would always stir up a quick molagu tanni (Pepper water) or molagu rasam (Meaning spiced pepper infusion). Oh! It always worked like magic. The pepper would melt the congestion and clear the chest, but the result was that I have permanently filed it under the folder 'sick foods'. My children seem to love it even when they are not sick and it always baffles me! But then, that is normal. Isn't it? It tells me they are teenagers and we are not an abnormal family after all!

Now the etymology! How did molagu tanni become mulingatawny?
Well, the humble soup of the poor caught the fancy of the British during their rule in India and they took it home giving it new variations. Ever heard of chicken stock molagu rasam with vegetables floating in it and garnished with spicy curry powder?" Even curry powder is unknown in Madras! But well if we can have a manchurian that is Chinese and yet not known to Chinese, why not have a Madras curry powder not known to us? All is fair when it comes to the love for food.

There are several variations but I am sharing with you the version my Mother and my Grandmothers made.

Dish: Molagu Rasam ~ Mulligatawny Soup (A spicy pepper infused soup)
Yield: 1/2 litre

Ingredients:
Marble sized ball of tamarind
Water 3-4 cups
Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp.
Black peppercorns - 2 tsp.
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida / Hing - A pinch
Salt to taste
Sesame oil - 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.

Method:
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water. Set aside for 15 minutes and then squish out the tamarind to extract its juice. Dilute with water till it measures a cup and set aside.

Heat a small wok or griddle and dry roast the cumin seeds and pepper corns separately till aromatic but not burnt. Powder using a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle.

In a vessel heat the tamarind extract, the pepper-cumin powder, asafoetida and curry leaves together till the raw smell of tamarind completely evaporates. Now dilute with 2 cups of water. Adjust salt and let it come to a boil and froth. Taste the infusion. If you cannot stand the heat of spices add a little more water to suit your palate and heat till frothy.

Remove from fire. Heat a wok with a tsp. of sesame oil (ghee if vegetarian). When the oil is heated, splutter mustard seeds and pour the oil over the infusion.

Molagu Rasam ~ Mulligatawny Soup

Varations: You may add a tsp. of roasted coriander seeds as well if you want a different taste but this is molagu rasam in its most rustic form. Some people also add a tsp. of roasted pigeon peas while powdering. I make that too but we call it 'arachhu vitta rasam'. But then, what's in a name? Go ahead and choose what suits you best.

Palak Shorba ~ Spinach Soup - II

Vegan Spinach Soup

I have made a spinach soup and posted it too, long back. This is a milder, quicker version. Quicker because I have vegan stock in my freezer all the time and I make sure I have at least a glass of coconut milk stocked in my fridge every other day. All I need to do then, is mix them in with pureed spinach and a tasty soup is all set to be drunk. Yes drunk, not sipped like soup. It is easier to serve my children in a steel tumbler as it reduces the risk of getting spilt and saves me from cleaning up afterwards. Oh yes! A mom needs to think all this if she has to get to work in time or maintain a calm state of mind after returning from work.

The recipe is almost the same as the pumpkin soup, made about the same time too.

Dish : Vegan Spinach Soup
More is less so be your own judge.
(I hope you will fall short and wish that you made more. Shameless I know, but I hope you will want more of my recipes and I am not going to shy away from admitting that!)

Ingredients:
Vegan soup stock - 1 cup
First thick extract of coconut milk - 1 cup
Spinach - 1 big bunch (Picked and rinsed well in many changes of water till it runs clear)
Water - 1/2 cup
Salt and pepper as per taste
Coconut cream (optional)

Method:

Heat water to boiling and immerse the spinach leaves without stalks. Cover for a few minutes till the leaves wilt. About five minutes at the most.

Cool and puree using a blender along with the water. Add the coconut milk and stock.

Warm the soup stirring all the while. Adjust salt as per taste.

I serve pepper separately. You may garnish the soup with a drizzle of coconut cream or olive oil. I never pair coconut milk and garlic in the same dish. For me, the flavours clash but again, that's me. If you are fine with that you could add a pod of roasted garlic while blending or a throw in some roasted flakes later.

I like one or two slivers of roasted almond floating around. It is a surprise element in my soups.

Vegan Spinach Soup

If you find the soup thick you could always dilute with a mix of stock and milk in equal proportions.

Serving suggestions:
Any bread would pair well with a soup. Please look up my recipe list to make a choice. I end up drinking my soup even before I take a bite of bread sticks or whatever, unless it is really hot and I like my soup just warm except when its Winter.

And yes, I am chatty. I could go on 'bout how and why I like things in a particular way but you would scroll so I won't do that!

Today was a good day. An unexpected holiday, well spent.

P.S: For more delicious soup recipes click here.

Raw Vegan Mango Soup

Raw Vegan Mango Fruit Soup

Flickr is a great place to learn photography. Vera, is an excellent food photographer, has a beautiful blog and is one of my recent flickr friends. Flickr is also a good place to learn cooking, styling and to make friends across the globe. Her blog is written in Hungarian and I don't understand a word of it, but the pictures convey more than words. You just need to email her requesting the recipe in English and she responds with the English version.

I could not resist the temptation of the strawberry coconut milk soup she made some time back and wanted to have a big slurp right then. But Mumbai was already rushing into Summer and strawberries were out of question. The flavours were interesting, tempting and extremely 'Kerala' (read appealing). I saw it made with mangoes (in my mind's eye) and I knew this is one soup my Grandfather would have loved very much.

My mother always says he was very strict and distant. We never saw that side of him. My guess is that retirement from playing the role of the provider brought out the child in him.

He taught us to make dolls out of candy wrappers.
He taught us to pound the ball and sing 'ondara dakkara dakkara dun.....', a limerick he sang as a child(I have added the Tamil limerick at the end of this post in case you are interested in knowing it). We would try to beat him but he would manage to get more bounces out of the ball without missing a single dribble.
He taught us to play 28, a card game and even as I write I remember very well how he would scatter the cards when he knew he was going to lose, how he used to exalt with pride when he won. I remember him when I see my son jumping out of his chair vicariously enjoying a game of cricket on TV. My grandfather would go berserk when a fielder missed a potential catch.
He loved chewing betel leaves with a fair amount of good tobacco.
He loved good food, especially Kerala cuisine.
And he always loved his mangoes as an accompaniment with curd and rice, the last course of a South Indian meal when mangoes are in season.

This soup I am sure would have won his approval and that was a tough one.

The soup could have been very well a shake too, if you perceived it so. The sharp sweetness of mangoes are smoothed by the kiss of coconut milk and topped with sweet coconut cream. A happy, peaceful union - this one! I had promised to post something I made with the coconut cream and coconut butter last time. This is it.

For the original strawberry soup recipe which served as an inspiration, please visit Vera here. Do you know Hungarian?

Dish for the day: Raw Vegan Mango Fruit Soup
Serves: 4

Raw Vegan Mango Fruit Soup

Ingredients:
Ripe, juicy mangoes, preferably without fiber (I used kesar variety) - Scooped to measure 3 level cups. Kesar is a very sweet and deeply yellow variety of mango.
Thick coconut milk (First extract) - 1 cup
Caster sugar - 2 tbsp.
Kala namak/black salt or pink salt - to taste
Dry mint leaves - To garnish
Coconut cream - 1 tsp. for each serving, to garnish
Optional - Retain a few rough chunks of mangoes to add to the soup

Method:
Mash the mangoes with a 'pav-bhaji' masher for a rough texture till coarsely juiced like I did or juice in a blender for a smoother consistency.
Add the coconut milk and fold into the 'soup'.
Add a pinch of kala namak/black salt or pink salt as per taste.
Garnish with coconut cream and serve cold.

We had almost two helpings each as it was irresistible. I said to myself, "A dessert soup".

What do you say?

Updated: 06.07.10 - This goes to Yasmeen's Tropical Temptations Challenge.