Mulligatawny- The Soup of an Empire

If there ever was a dish, which exemplified the heydays of the British Empire, it would be the ‘Mulligatawny Soup’. Inspired by India’s very own hot and spicy rasam, Mulligatawny was once so popular that it went with British officers, bureaucrats and even adventurers across the world and into every home in England, by the 19th century CE. Interestingly, it also fell off the dinner table as the sun set on the British Empire.

A soup made of a combination of vegetable, rice, spices and chicken or other meat, the Mulligatawny was first made by Indian cooks working in the homes and clubs of the East India Company officials in the 18th century CE. A corruption of the Tamil word millagu or pepper and thanni or water, the Mulligatawny can well be called one of the earliest ‘Anglo-Indian’ dishes, quite like the kedgeree, another contemporary kitchen innovation.