soup

That thought was going through my head as I was writing out my family’s dinner menu for the week. With the temperatures finally feeling like winter, meals that will warm us up from the inside out are in order.

And that means soup.

This is my all-time favorite soup recipe. It is one of those meals that tastes better the next day, so don’t be afraid to make lots of it and enjoy the leftovers!

MULLIGATAWNY

Serves 4; Prep 20 minutes; Cook 45 minutes; Freeze up to 3 months

• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 inches fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 apple, diced with peel
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 celery rib, sliced
• 1 heaped tablespoon mild curry powder
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons tomato puree
• 2 cups hot chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 7 ounces cooked chicken meat, chopped (I used a cup)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice of 1/2 a lime

Melt the butter in the large pan and soften the onion, ginger and garlic for 10 minutes, without coloring. Add the apple, carrot and celery to the pan and continue cooking, covered for 5 minutes.

Stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time. Sprinkle in the flour and continue cooking for another 20 seconds.

Add the tomatoes and tomato puree, followed by the chicken stock. Add the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer, half-covered, for 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and blend until smooth, using a stick blender or liquidizer (of which I have neither, so I poured it into a blender — it worked just fine). Sieve the soup to remove any fibers and skin. (Again, I didn’t do because I had peeled the apple and was fine with the soup after blending.) Reheat, stir in the coconut milk or half-and-half and add the diced chicken. Sharpen with a squeeze of lime and add the chopped cilantro.

Source: Soup by DK Publishing (DK Adult; November, 2009)