Mulligatawny


Mulligatawny is a soup which originated from South Indian cuisine. The name originates from the Tamil words miḷagāy or miḷagu, and taṇṇi. It is related to the dish rasam.

History

Mulligatawny was very popular in British India by the end of the 18th century, and by the 1800s it began to appear in cookbooks of the day; with each cook featuring its own recipe. Recipes for mulligatawny varied greatly at that time and over the years, and later versions of the soup included British modifications that included meat. Early references to it in English go back to 1784. In 1827, William Kitchiner wrote that it had become fashionable in Britain:
By the mid 1800s, Wyvern, the pen-name of Arthur Robert Kenney-Herbert, wrote in his popular "Culinary Jottings" that "really well-made mulligatunny is... a thing of the past." He also noted that this simple recipe prepared by poorer natives of Madras as made by "Mootoosamy" was made by pounding:

In popular culture

It was one of the soups prepared by the Soup Nazi in the famous Seinfeld episode of the same name.
It was featured in the Homestar Runner cartoon Experimental Film with music written by They Might Be Giants.