Mulligatawny Soup

Before you start

• Rinse the toor dal until the water runs clear, then soak it 20 minutes so it collapses on time.
• Cook the rice separately and keep it warm; boiling rice in the soup turns the whole pot to paste.
• Have the lemon cut before you serve. The acid at the end is what makes it taste like mulligatawny and not lentil soup.

Method

1. Simmer the chicken thighs in the water with half the crushed pepper and a good pinch of salt for 25 minutes, skimming the grey foam off the top.Skim properly or the finished soup is cloudy and tastes flat.
2. Lift out the chicken, let it cool enough to handle, then pull the meat off in shreds and set aside. Keep the stock.
3. Add the drained toor dal to the stock and simmer 25 to 30 minutes until it has completely lost its shape.
4. Meanwhile melt the butter in a second pan and crackle the cumin seeds and curry leaves, about 20 seconds.
5. Add the onion and carrot and cook until the onion is soft and just turning gold, 8 minutes.
6. Stir in the garlic, ginger, coriander powder, turmeric and the remaining black pepper and fry 2 minutes.Ground pepper goes bitter if it sits in hot fat too long. Two minutes, then liquid.
7. Tip the fried mixture into the dal pot and simmer everything together 10 minutes.
8. Blend about half the soup smooth and return it to the pan; leave the rest with texture.Blending it all makes a purée. The point is a soup with something to chew on.
9. Return the shredded chicken, stir in the coconut milk and warm through for 5 minutes without letting it boil. Check the salt.
10. Put a spoon of hot rice in each bowl, ladle the soup over, scatter coriander leaves and serve with lemon wedges.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated; the dal thickens as it sits, so loosen with hot water when reheating. Store the rice separately. Freezes well for a month before the coconut milk goes in.