Anne Morgan There’s no chicken or lamb in Delia Smith’s mulligatawny soup, just marrow or courgettes, tomatoes and a potato with onions browned in butter, a pot for 8 in just over an hour. Four kinds of whole seed, from cardamom to fennel, are toasted until they jump, then the soft vegetables are blended and cooked basmati rice goes in.
She adapted it from Eliza Acton, a Victorian cookery writer she counts among her favourites, and it’s in her Complete Cookery Course, in the 1983 edition and the 1992 revision. This whole-spice version followed in Delia’s Vegetarian Collection (2002) and The Delia Collection: Soup (2003).
It sits in the autumn chapter of the Soup book, the time of year when marrows are cheap and plentiful.
The spices come through warm rather than hot, the potato gives the purée its body and the rice adds a soft bite. If you like the toasted seeds here, her curried parsnip and apple soup starts the same way, with turmeric and ginger as well.
Delia Smith’s Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup
Course: SoupsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutes50
minutes280
kcalGently spiced and smooth, with soft grains of basmati rice and crisp croutons in every bowl.
Ingredients
- For the soup:
110g (4oz) butter
3 large onions, chopped
3 whole cardamom pods, seeds only
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 dessertspoon coriander seeds
700g (1lb 8oz) peeled marrow or unpeeled courgettes, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
1 large potato, peeled and cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
225g (8oz) tomatoes, skinned and chopped
850ml (1½ pints) hot vegetable stock
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- For the rice:
75ml (3fl oz) white basmati rice, measured in a jug
175ml (6fl oz) boiling water
a pinch of salt
- To serve:
small croutons
Directions
- Onions: Melt the butter in a large saucepan of about 3.5 litres and fry the onions until they turn golden brown, about 15 minutes.
- Spices: Meanwhile, toast the cardamom, cumin, fennel and coriander seeds in a small dry frying pan for 2 to 3 minutes. As soon as they start to jump, crush them finely in a pestle and mortar and stir them into the onions.
- Vegetables: Add the marrow or courgettes, potato and tomatoes, season well, then cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes, until soft.
- Rice: While the vegetables cook, put the rice and salt in a small pan, pour on the boiling water, cover and leave on the lowest heat for 15 minutes without lifting the lid, until the water has gone.
- Blend: Let the vegetables cool a little, then purée them in a blender in batches and pour the purée back into the pan.
- Finish: Stir in the cooked rice and the hot stock, reheat gently for about 5 minutes and serve with croutons scattered over each bowl.
Notes
- Her croutons, from page 129 of the Soup book, are 50g (2oz) of bread in small cubes tossed in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then baked on a high shelf at 180°C (160°C fan), gas mark 4, for 10 minutes until crisp. That makes enough for 4, so I'd double it here, and she warns you to set a timer.
- To skin the tomatoes, pour boiling water over them, leave them for a minute, then drain and the skins peel away easily.
FAQs
Can I use curry powder instead of whole spices?
You can, as that’s the older version of her recipe. The Complete Cookery Course one serves 4 and uses 1 teaspoon of Madras curry powder and a dessertspoon of Worcestershire sauce, with 425ml of stock or water and long-grain rice.
She says that one should have quite a strong flavour, so add more curry powder if it needs it. Worcestershire sauce usually contains anchovies, so the newer whole-spice version is the one to make for vegetarians.
Should I use marrow or courgettes?
Either works, and her list gives both, with the marrow peeled and the courgettes left in their skins. If you’re buying a marrow, the vegetable chapter of her Complete Cookery Course says small is beautiful, no more than 700 to 900g.
A young one has a shiny skin, and a ridge pressed with your thumb should keep the mark. The big old ones, in her view, aren’t much good for anything.
Who was Eliza Acton?
A Victorian cookery writer Delia comes back to again and again. In Delia’s Happy Christmas (2009) she calls her “the source of much of my inspiration”.
Her books also carry Eliza Acton’s rich rice pudding and English salad sauce in the Complete Cookery Course, and Acton’s hot punch sauce poured over a steamed panettone pudding in How to Cook Book One.
Can I add chicken?
Not in her recipe, which is a vegetable soup from start to finish. My own way would be to stir shredded cooked chicken in with the rice and let it simmer until it’s piping hot right through.
Swapping the vegetable stock for chicken stock deepens it too, though it’s then no longer vegetarian.
Can I make it ahead?
You can, and the croutons keep for a day in an airtight tin once cooled, as she suggests. For the soup, my own way is to stop after blending, cool it quickly and chill it for up to 3 days, then bring it to the boil and add the rice when you reheat it.
The rice soaks up the liquid if it sits in the soup, so I’d keep it apart. The blended soup also freezes well for a month without the rice.
