Bowl of golden mulligatawny soup with red lentils in creamy broth, garnished and photographed from above on dark wooden table

British Raj · India

Anglo-Indian Mulligatawny Soup

Name: Anglo-Indian Mulligatawny Soup
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 3 tbsp butter; 2 onions, chopped; 3 cloves garlic; 3cm ginger, minced; 2 tsp mild curry powder; 1 tsp turmeric; 200g red lentils; 1L chicken stock; 1 apple, peeled and chopped; 150g cooked chicken, shredded; 400ml coconut milk; 1 lemon, juiced; Salt, black pepper, coriander

From The Indian Cookery Book · Anonymous (Thacker, Spink & Co.) · 1869

Verified from original source

The lentil-and-curry soup that travelled from Madras to every British colonial dining table.

History

Mulligatawny originated in southern India during British colonial rule, its name derived from Tamil 'milagu tannir' (pepper water). Indian cooks adapted traditional rasam for British palates in the late 18th century, adding meat, cream, and curry powder. By the 1800s, it became an Anglo-Indian classic, featured in British cookbooks and military messes. The soup symbolised colonial culinary fusion, blending Indian spices with European techniques. Victorian Britain embraced it as an exotic first course. Modern versions range from vegetarian to chicken-based, often thickened with rice or lentils, maintaining its curry-spiced character.

Sources

The Indian Cookery Book, Anonymous (Thacker, Spink & Co., 1869)
Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845)
Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747 edition with later Indian recipes)
Lizzie Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (2006)
Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food (1999)
Cecilia Leong-Salobir, Food Culture in Colonial Asia (2011)

Serves

Prep

15m

Cook

45m

Difficulty

Easy