I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

July 30, 2013

Mouthwatering Mulligatawny Soup





I joined a gym this year

Its a nice ladies only place that is very friendly, and is very supportive of my no-using-arms-only-legs restrictions and my pretty purple and cream arm casts that I have to wear every day. They have lots of incentives, fun events and support local charities as well. One of the extra nice things this month has been a weekly tasting of a hot, healthy soup to encourage us members to eat right without having to compromise on deliciousness or excess calories. We've been dazzled with Pumpkin, Italian Vegetable, Broccoli and Blue Cheese, Sweet Potato and Lentil, and todays offering of Fruity Mulligatawny Soup with Quinoa.


Mulligatawny is a bit of a colourful name coming from the Tamil word Milakutanni, meaning Pepper Water, and isn't at all a traditional Indian dish but rather another invention of the British Raj. There are heaps of variations, with some relying on lentils or rice to add body to the soup, some including chicken meat and stock, and some using coconut milk or even plain dairy cream to enrichen the dish as well.

Well today I'm going with the recipe sheet supplied from my Gym, but with a couple of my own touches to tweak it just a little to suit my tastes perfectly while still keeping it totally healthy, low fat and delicious. Yummo, let's share the love!





Mouthwatering Mulligatawny Soup

2 tab Oil
1 large Green Apple
1 large Carrot
1/2 Sweet Potato
1 Onion
1/4 cup Sultanas
1-2 tab Curry Powder (makes sure it's gluten free and delicious)
1/3 cup Quinoa
1 lt Vegetable Stock
1 tab Mango Chutney
1 tab crushed Ginger
1 tab crushed Garlic



Roughly chop the veggies and apple




Pop them along with the sultanas, curry powder, garlic and ginger into a pan with the oil and sweat them down over a low heat until softened. This will also take away the raw harshness of the curry powder and allow the spices to toast and mellow nicely




Add the stock and chutney, then simmer for about half and hour or so




While the soup is simmering, wash your quinoa well to remove any traces of the natural saponin coating that can give quinoa an unpleasant bitterness instead of a nice nuttiness




Add it into the soup, and simmer for about another 15-20 minutes or so




You can tell if your soup is ready if the veggies can be mushed with a spoon, and if the quinoa has developed cute little tadpole tails




Blend it all up with a stick blender, or other blitzy thing, until it's lovely and silky smooth




There, a lovely big bowl of hearty healthiness!
Very easy, just one bowl to wash, and extra yummy to boot. The only thing I would change for myself is to either leave out the chutney or half the sultanas. The soup is quite sweet for me and that's just a personal preference




To make my soup an extra filling main meal I served mine up with a hard boiled egg and just a little scoop of yoghurt to cut through the sweetness and finish rounding out the flavours. A splash of coconut cream would be delicious on top too if you happen to have some handy




So Dear Readers, do you belong to a gym, and what's your favourite warming Winter soup?







28 comments:

  1. Bec, I don't think I've ever had Mulligatawny! For some reason I imagined it had seafood. I need to get off my butt and onto the elliptical.

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    1. Maybe you're thinking of Kedgeree Lizzy? http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com/2011/04/kedgeree.html
      Don't overdo any exercise until you're feeling better! :)

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  2. G'day! This is THE PERFECT soup for this winter weather we are having, true!
    I WISH I could come through the screen and try some of this now too!
    Cheers! Joanne
    http://www.facebook.com/whatsonthelist

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    1. Glad you like it Joanne, but it could get messy if you popped through the screen into a big bowl of soup!

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  3. so that's what's in a mulligatawny soup...I've heard of it forever but I've never actually tasted one...I think I need to give that baby a crack!

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    1. Let me know what you think Brydie, it's nice and mild and sweet so even the monkeys might give it a crack too!

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  4. I've heard of this soup (only recently) but never made it. It does look very good (particularly your version with the lovely eggs on the side). Good luck with the gym and not using your arms - that must give you a lot of time out! xx

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    1. I hope you like it Charlie, I have a soft spot for curried eggs so these work well together for me.
      Two years time out so far... and counting! On the plus side, I have lots of time to teach my cat tricks, she can sit, stay, play dead, shake hands, beg, roll over, drop, turn circles, jump up, and jump through a hoop- lots of time on my hands indeed :)

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    2. I tried teaching my Poppy tricks... jump is the only one she will still do... fetch was fun while it lasted, but she decided quite quickly that she'd rather I did the fetching... sigh.
      Exercise is bad for me... makes me sweat...shudder..
      :-)

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  5. My mother used to make this when I was little and I always confused it with groundhog day and thought she meant Punxsutawney and we were eating Phil the groundhog. I refused to eat it. :) It's an American thing.

    Now I quite enjoy this. LOL

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    1. I wonder what froundhog tastes like Maureen? It might be delicious! :)

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  6. Like others in the comments, I've not tried mulligatawny before and this sounds like a very healthy version. Love that it uses apple. That must add a nice flavor to the soup.
    I used to go to a gym 3 or 4 times each week. Now I make sure to drive past one every other day. :)

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    1. The apple definitley adds a lovely sweetness and freshness that's lovely. Yousound like my husband- he has a gym membership but hardly ever seems to go. His excuse is injury, in the past year he has broken a rib, broken a collar bone, separated his shoulder, and last night he managed to break a toe. I think we should use his gym money for medical insurance! :)

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  7. Your post reminded me that I really need to quit my gym contract because I don't go there anymore (I live in another city now, haha). But they just ignored my letter, which I found quite annyoing, so I have to go after it.

    The soup looks wonderful and puts me in the mood of making it! I'll have to leave out the apple and raisins because I've found out I react badly to fructose (boo), and I'm afraid that will take away much of the characteristic flavor, but the remaining ingredients also sound like they'd make for a very tasty and satisfying soup!

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    1. Don't let them take your money Kath, ring them right away! Just think of all the ingredients you could buy with that money instead :)
      It would make a bit of difference without the fruit, but you could use some more sweet veggies that you can tolerate, and the curry powder is the most important ingredient anyway so don't worry about making changes

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  8. Good on you! It sounds like you're having a great time too :) And it has been forever since I had some Mulligatawney soup!

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    1. Thanks Lorraine, I really do enjoy going and hopefully I'll even start to notice some shrinkage soon! :)

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  9. Another lovely recipe thanks and one I can add to my "soup on sunday" repertoire. I love trying new soups in this cold weather.

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    1. Slowly simmering goodness is perfect for Sunday Supper Amanda! This weather is just crying out for soup indeed :)

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  10. Rebecca - I love soups of all kinds and this one sounds like a winner. Love the apple in this recipe too...Yummmm!

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    1. Thanks Ina, the apple is just a lovely addition, and the curry really warms you up too!

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  11. Go girl! Good on you for joining the gym. And this soup looks tasty, perfect for winter.

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    1. Thanks Sarah! It certainly gets the blood pumping on these miserable cold days :)

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  12. I've never heard of Mulligatawney soup before, it's wonderful to hear of another quinoa recipe, I always have a bag in my pantry but don't ever know what to do with it

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    1. Quinoa is a really versatile ingredient Lisa, you should give it a try. Here are a couple of interesting recipes- the compote is one of my favourite breakfasts!

      http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/sweet-apple-quinoa-compote.html

      http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/already-cooked-apricot-quinoa-cakes.html

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  13. What a delicious looking soup!!! I live soups in the cooler weather. Yes I do belong to a gym, I like food too much, I need to exercise :)

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  14. I love soups too... and most other foods.... That's why I need to go to the gym as well :) I freeze lots of little serves of soup in zippy bags for my weekday lunches to warm me up this time of year too!

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  15. I love Mulligatawny Bec. Yours looks so good. Your gym also sounds good, I want to go to a gym where they feed you!!

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