Mulligatawny

Recipe from Jamie Oliver's Great Britain.

Whenever I hear mulligatawny, I think of the Seinfeld episode with the "soup nazi". I never actually knew what it was though (I figured it was soup). Andrew gave me Jamie Oliver's Great Britain cookbook for my birthday. When we were looking through the recipe's together, he said "this looks like something you'd like". I agreed, so I though I'd give it a try. Well, Andrew knows me well because I looooved this recipe! One dish dinners is my kind of eating (if you've noticed from the majority of the recipes on my blog) and the flavours in this dish are right up my alley.  Curry, ginger and cilantro I love. What surprised me in this dish however was how the flavours from the HP sauce, thyme and butternut squash set this recipe apart from my other curry recipes. I will definitely be making this recipe a lot!

What you'll need

Olive oil

8 1/2 oz Ground beef

1 Red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 Carrots, peeled and finely chopped

4 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

1 Red pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 Piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 or 2 Fresh red chiles, seeded and finely chopped

A small bunch of fresh cilantro

1 heaped tbsp Curry paste

1 heaped tbsp Tomato puree

Sea salt 

Ground pepper

1 heaped tbsp HP sauce

5 cups Organic beef stalk

1/2 Butternut squash (about 12 oz)

A couple sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked

A couple pinches of garam masala

1 cup Basmati rice

Plain yogurt to serve

How to

1.  Put a large pan on high heat and add a splash of olive oil and the ground beef. Cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the beef, until it starts to turn golden and caramelize.

2.  Stir in the onion, carrot, garlic, red pepper, ginger and most of the chiles, and add a splash more oil if needed. Cut the top leafy section off the cilantro and put aside in a cup of cold water for later. Finely chop the stalks and add to the pan. Cook and stir for around 10 minutes over medium heat, or until the vegetables have softened. 

3.  Stir in the curry paste, tomato puree, a good pinch of salt and pepper and the HP sauce. After a few more minutes, when it smells fantastic, pour in the stock. Leave to blip away with the lid on over a medium heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.  Meanwhile, cut the butternut squash in to 1/2-inch chunks, getting rid of any seeds. Put a smaller pan on high heat. Add a lug of olive oil and the squash. Stir in the thyme leaves and the garam masala. Place a lid on the pan and cook for around 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring every few minutes until softened and golden. Add rice to the pan with 2 cups of water and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Replace the lid and cook for around 8 minutes on medium heat, then turn the heat off and leave to steam for 8 minutes with the lid on.

5.  Fluff up the rice and tip it into the soup. Have a taste, and season if needed. Gently mix together, then divide between your soup bowls witha good dollop of plain yogurt. Scatter over the cilantro leaves and add a sprinkling of fresh chile, if you like.