Mulligatawny Soup

As the weather gets chillier, soup becomes so appealing: a steaming, fragrant welcome to a warm home.

Mulligatawny -- a mixture that originates with the Tamils of southern India -- is such a great soup at this time of year. It's spicy and slightly exotic, but is based on chicken broth, garlic and onions -- ordinary ingredients that seem to have exceptional abilities to ward off the chill, as well as colds and flus. Serve this one hot--and with a lot of showmanship--to 4-6 people.

Add turkey or chicken to the pot to make it even more substantial. Serve it with warm naan or crunchy pappadams and you've got a wonderful, easy weeknight supper.

• 2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 chile pepper, seeded and deveined (your choice: banana, poblano, jalapeno, habanero--whatever you can stand)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup lentils
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk* or whipping cream
• 1-2 cups cooked rice (preferably basmati)
• 1/2-1 cup shredded cooked chicken (you can cook raw chicken in the stock at the start if you don't have leftover chicken lying around)
• 1/2 cup tart raw apple, chopped fine

Garnish: spoonsful of extra cream or coconut milk--and minced cilantro or parsley.
Saute the celery, carrots, onion, and pepper in the butter at a low heat until the onion is translucent. Stir in the curry powder to blend and cook for a minute. Pour in the stock, add the lentils (and chicken, if it's raw), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, get the rice cooked (if it isn't already); likewise with the chicken. Then shred the chicken and chopped the apples finely. You don't need to skin the apples.
When the soup is done, season to taste with the salt and pepper, then puree, solids first, in a blender. Return to pot.

When ready to serve, bring the soup to a simmer and add the coconut milk or cream. Take the pot to the table, as well as individual bowls of warm rice (heated in the microwave, if necessary), shredded chicken, finely chopped apple, coconut milk (or cream), and minced cilantro (or parsley).

To serve, have big individual serving bowls at the ready. Spoon rice into each bowl (flat soup bowls are nice here)--then pile on a big spoonful of chicken and a spoonful of apple. Ladle the soup on top, then drip coconut milk/cream into the center and swirl--and sprinkling with fresh cilantro and parsley.