Soup

mulligatawny

This recipe was given to me by Dennis Patel, who told me that the name comes from the Tamil words for "pepper water". Soup is not a part of Indian cuisine, but in the days of the Raj, the British insisted on a soup course, so their Indian cooks devised Mulligatawny.

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/4 cup butter

1.5 tbs flour

1.5 tsp curry powder

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 apple, cored and chopped

1/4 cup white rice

125gr chicken breasts, cubed

salt

ground black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup heavy cream, heated

Sautè onions, carrots and celery in butter in a large pot.

Add flour and curry and cook 5 more minutes.

Add chicken stock, mix well and bring to a boil.

Simmer slowly about 1/2 hour.

Add apple, rice, chicken, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer 15-20 mins, or until rice is done. Add a little boiling water if necessary.

Add hot cream when serving.

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potato soup

Steven Bird brought this soup to the Old Nuns annual dinner. The Old Nuns are those of us who used to work for the Nunawading Library before it disppeared, swallowed up by a big regional library system.

	1 onion
	4 potatoes, washed but not peeled
	2 rashers bacon
	50 gr butter
	25 ml olive oil
	2-3 spoons flour
	1 litre chicken stock

	4 cardamom pods
	8 peppercorns
	salt if necessary (bacon and stock are salt already)
	100gr sour cream
	1 egg
	chopped parsley

Heat butter and oil in saucepan.

Sautèè onions and bacon.

Sprinkle flour on and stir to make a roux. Use a bit more flour if necessary to mop up all the oil.

Gradually add boiling hot stock, stirring till smooth.

Add diced potatoes - it is not necessary to peel them. Add cardamom, peppercorns and salt.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes till potato is soft. Fish pods out - they will be floating near the top. Blend in food processor till smooth.

Beat egg, mix with sour cream and stir into the soup just before serving. Be careful not to let it boil when reheating or the egg will curdle. Garnish with parsley.

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pumpkin soup

We South Africans tend to think of pumpkin as a sweet vegetable and do not hesitate to bung a bit of cinnamon sugar on it. The first time I saw pumpkin soup was in Australia. I was a bit cautious about tasting it, but it is delicious and easy to understand why it is so popular here. This is Trevor's recipe. He also plays the flute, does Morris dancing and is the father of a little boy called Jamal.

	1 medium butternut
	1 carrot
	1onion
	1 potato
	1 clove garlic

	1tsp ground cumin
	1/2 tsp ground cardamom
	1/2 tsp black pepper
	water
	olive oil
	sour cream or yoghurt

Sautè onion and garlic in oil. Add spices and fry 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add carrot, scraped and sliced; potato and pumpkin, unpeeled and diced.

Simmer till soft.

Purèè in blender. Stir in yoghurt or sour cream.

Makes 4-6 large servings, depending on how much water you use.

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lamb, bean and brandy broth

My mother made this in the winter.

	1 lamb shank or shin
	1.5 cups speckled borlotti beans
	1 onion, chopped
	1 small unpeeled potato, diced

	8-10 peppercorns
	4 cloves
	1/2 tsp salt
	tablespoon brandy

Put everything except the brandy in a large saucepan, cover with 1.5 litres water. Simmer for 2 hours or so, until the beans are soft and the meat falls off the bone.

Remove the bone, shred the meat with a fork, mash the beans with your potato masher, fish out the cloves if you spot them.

Add the brandy before reheating.

It is even better when reheated the next day. Adjust the amount of water to make it as thick or thin as you prefer.

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Anna's Recipe File