It’s a soup with a ‘shady past’ as food experts put it; but it’s a soup with the most variation in taste. Taste that is gradually released as it passes from the mouth to the gullet. At first, it’s difficult to make out the base ingredient of Mulligatawny Soup, which makes it quite a complicated soup when it comes to cooking. But those who have had it more than once or have made it often enough can tell what makes this soup absolutely delectable.

Mulligatawny Soup is an Anglo-Indian soup of Tamil origin. Literally meaning ‘pepper water’ in Tamil, the soup was served to the officers of British Raj by their South Indian Khan­samas (cooks). Lamburt Ray, an executive chef of Pakistani origin based in Australia says, “It’s not an Indian soup, it’s an Anglo-Indian soup. It’s a modified version of a Tamil curry that was further thinned to make a soup since the British soldiers demanded a soup course. It gained instant popularity among the Anglo-Indian community and the British Indian elite across the subcontinent. Although the British take credit for creating this soup, the fact is that the base and method remains the same as that of the curry it is inspired from.”

Outside the subcontinent, although one of its varied forms is popular in Malaysia too, Mulligatawny Soup was first introduced to England. The soup first appeared in The Sporting Magazine in 1798, and so it is believed its history in England goes back to that era. The pronunciation of Mulligatawny varies from one region to another, depending on the dialect of the community among which it is popular. Mulagatoney, Mullaghee-tanny, Malagatany, Mullag­atawney and Mulligatawny are a few of the most famous pronunciations. The name Mulligatawny comes from a combination of two Tamil words ‘milagu’ meaning pepper and ‘thanni’ meaning water. In fact, most potager chefs consider it quite similar to ‘Rasam’ from South Indian cuisine, although the base of the latter is tamarind juice and is comparatively spicy.

Legend has it that an Indian cook casually mentioned “milagu-thanneer” to his British superior from where the soup assumed the its name Mulligatawny

“Beef stock or chicken is the base of this soup with lots of lentils to thicken it. Some Mulligatawny soups contain rice or vegetables while you’ll find some with noodles. But in Pakistan rice is preferred in Mulligatawny, which is very close to the original recipe. Other ingredients include cream or coconut milk or yoghurt, but then again cream and coconut milk goes into the actual one. A slight variation that developed in the recent past is adding apples to give it a sweet and sour flavour but here in our region tomatoes are preferred since the beginning,” comments Ruhi Naseehudin who takes pride in serving Mulligatawny soup at her restaurant in the twin cities, Rawalpindi-Islamabad).

In Pakistan, Mulligatawny Soup was extremely popular till the early 2000s. As a matter of fact, most restaurants these days do not know what it is. “One expects to find Mulligatawny Soup in the menu of desi or subcontinental restaurants just as you expect to find pasta in an Italian menu or chicken corn soup in a Chinese. Sadly, owners of upscale desi eateries have so overstressed the need of having typical food items like dahi bhalla, samosa, chat, biryani, etc. that they have forgotten other significant dishes. But one can only find Mulligatawny Soup in the restaurants of five-star hotels or long-established clubs, maybe because it truly is an elite cuisine. Other than five star hotels, I have only found this soup at Salt ‘n’ Pepper and Rendezvous,” shared Aarzoo Naeem Chaudhry — an enthusiast foodie and blogger.

“Somehow there has been more stress on Chinese, fast food, and now Mediterranean / Italian cuisine over the years. Because of this, chefs in training do not know about many such savoury recipes that are an indigenous part of our food culture. I think it’s also because recipes are passed on by one generation to another and the demographics of the community that would rightly own it has grown thin in our country. Compared to us, Indians still hold this soup very special,” added Michael Shaukat, sous chef at a hotel.

Mulligatawny soup is best for diet conscious people. It’s light in calories and filling. It’s known to be low in sodium and is also recommended for lactose sensitive people. It helps cure cold and flu. Because it is highly recommended by food and health experts during pregnancy, Mulligatawny is known as ‘pregnancy soup’. Expecting women should have it like they served it during the British Raj: delightfully warm in huge Victorian soup bowls with side bowls of brown or white rice, lime wedges, grated coconut, hard boiled eggs and perhaps sliced chillies. What you’ve got is a meal in itself!

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 12th, 2014