The CreComm Cough

A month into school and we have all caught (or soon will) the CreComm cough. It’s about this time of the year when school picks up and the weather gets colder that our immune systems shut down. But hey, at least we’re all sick together right?

I crave a limited amount of food when I’m sick that usually ranges from mac and cheese to soup, so my mom and I spent our Sunday morning making soup. But don’t worry, homemade mac and cheese is on its way!

The soup we made is a great fix to get you back on track and feeling better again as it contains many spices such as cumin, curry, cloves and chilli powder. These spices are really good for you and are commonly used for healing and detoxify your body. My favourite thing about this recipe is the adding of apples as they give a good contrast to the spice, and are very fitting for fall. There’s not much better than a warm bowl of soup on a crisp, fall day.

I remember making this recipe when I was younger and loving it, so this past weekend when I felt my head cold coming on, all I could think was “Mulligatawnski”.

Mulligatawnski is the name of the soup and it is a Southern Indian Soup with curried chicken, apples, and rice. My neighbour gave it to my family years ago, and she got it from the cookbook The Looneyspoons Collection: Janet & Greta’s Greatest Recipe Hits And A Whole Lot More!

If you’re wondering where the heck this soup got its name from, like I was, it comes from the word “mulligatawny”, which means a curry flavoured soup of East Indian origin.

But if you’re a Seinfeld fan, you probably recognize the word mulligatawny from the episode “The End of the Soup Nazi”. This is the episode where Elaine reveals The Soup Nazi’s secret soup recipes and mulligatawny is the one he gets most upset about.

If you haven’t seen it, watch below, it’s pretty funny!

Southern Indian Soup with Curried Chicken, Apples and Rice 

Prepared ingredients for Mulligatawnski soup.

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 cup each chopped celery, chopped onions, and chopped carrots

1 clove garlic, minced

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3 whole cloves

6 cups chicken broth

1 can (19oz) plum tomatoes, drained, cut up

1/2 cup uncooked, long-grain white rice

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups peeled, cored, and diced Granny Smith apples

1/4 cup chopped, fresh parsley

3/4 cup sour cream or yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Begin by melting the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Follow by adding the chopped celery, onions, carrots, and garlic. Stir and cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, until they soften.

Cooking of chopped celery, onion, carrot and garlic.

Follow by adding the chicken and cook until it is no longer pink.

Addition of cubed chicken.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the curry powder, chilli powder, cumin, cloves, salt and pepper. Cook and stir this for 2 more minutes as the flavours set in.

Spice it up!

Cook and let flavours mix.

Follow by adding the chicken broth, tomatoes and rice. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Adding of chicken broth.

The rice really thickens the soup, so don’t be shy when adding the broth. We used 1 1/2 cups of rice so we added broth accordingly.

Stir after you add tomatoes.

Once the flavours have simmered and mixed for 15 minutes, continue by adding the apples and parsley. For the apples, you don’t have to use Granny Smith’s, although if you do, they won’t soften as much as others. We used apples from a friend’s apple tree and they ended up tasting even better!

I cut the apples beforehand, so to prevent them from browning, I covered them in the lemon juice this recipe later calls for.

Fresh parsley from the garden.

Once everything is added, simmer the soup for 10 more minutes. This will let all the ingredients cook down and enhance the overall flavour of the dish.

Mixing of all ingredients.

To serve, place a spoonful of sour cream or plain yogurt in your bowl and mix it in to make the soup creamy. If you would rather eat the soup as is, that is okay too. It’s just as good!

Curry up! Get it while it’s hot!

Oh yeah, Molly helped too! She always stays by our feet when we are cooking, just incase something falls off the counter!

This soup is by far one of my favourites because of the variety of flavours from spicy to sweet. It is a meal on its own from the amount of ingredients from vegetables, to chicken, to apples. I have eaten Mulligatawnski for lunch the past few days and I am good for the rest of the day, until dinner.

Again, feel free to comment with any questions or recommendations! I have a few ideas lined up such as my Friday night pizza, homemade mac and cheese and a Thai noodle salad but I am always looking for more.

I hope everyone gets through the week with their chills and coughs and starts feeling better soon! If you are one of the lucky ones who has managed to avoid the bug, do your best to stay clear and keep eating soup!

Cheers!