Chicken Mulligatawny (Sri Lanka)
Submitted by panja
A fragrant Sri Lankan chicken soup simmered with coriander, cumin, fennel, turmeric, and coconut milk, finished with fried curry leaves and fresh lemon juice.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
45 minCOOK
READY
Mulligatawny literally means “pepper water” in Tamil, and this Sri Lankan version is a bowl of pure warmth.
A whole chicken simmers low and slow with whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and a parade of ground spices until the broth is golden and deeply aromatic. The chicken gets pulled from the bone, returned to the pot, and then coconut milk rounds everything into a creamy, soothing soup. Curry leaves fried in ghee go in at the finish for that unmistakable Sri Lankan fragrance.
A squeeze of lemon right before serving sharpens all those layered spice flavors. Serve this with steamed rice or crusty bread and prepare to make it again next week.
Chef Tips
- Simmer gently, never boil hard. A rolling boil makes the broth cloudy and can toughen the chicken.
- Fry the curry leaves in ghee until they crackle and pop. This step releases their aromatic oils and adds a smoky depth to the soup.
- Add the coconut milk at the very end and keep the heat low. Boiling coconut milk can cause it to split and turn greasy.
- Strain the stock before adding the chicken back. This gives you a clean, clear base free of spent aromatics and peppercorns.
- Fresh lemon juice at the end is not optional. It lifts the whole soup and prevents the spices from tasting flat.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut chicken into joints and put into a large saucepan with sufficient water to cover.
Add salt, peppercorns, celery leaves and 1 onion, peeled and stuck with the whole cloves.
Bring to the boil on high heat, then turn heat low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add coriander, cumin, fennel, turmeric, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, and tomatoes and simmer for a further hour or until chicken is tender.
Strain stock into a large bowl.
When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut the flesh into pieces and return to the stock.
Slice the remaining onion.
Wash out pan in which chicken cooked, dry it well and in it heat the ghee.
Fry the curry leaves and sliced onion until the onion is well browned, then pour stock into pan and let it come to the boil.
Reduce heat, stir in coconut milk, and when soup returns to simmering point again, remove from heat.
Taste and add lemon juice to sharpen the flavour.
If necessary add more salt.
Serve hot.
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