Who’s Ready To “Mulligatawny?”

Well, I know one guy who is: Kramer!

Yes, this iconic “Seinfeld” TV show character LOVED Mulligatawney Soup!

Mulligatawny is an Indian soup with roots in Tamil culture – named from the Tamil words for “pepper water” (milagu thanni). It’s a rich, spiced soup that features lentils, vegetables, and sometimes chicken or lamb, thickened with rice or cream, and often includes apples for a touch of sweetness and tartness. 

I will explain the importance of Mulligatawny to Kramer in a minute, but first, let’s make a batch! Here are the ingredients I used, and remember this is a soup for whatever inspires you: mix and match as you see fit!

1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

2 tablespoons vegetable oil●

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper●

1 pound (about 3 large) chicken thighs●

1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)●

1 medium carrot, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)●

1 celery rib, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)●

1 tablespoon curry powder●

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)●

1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated●

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces●

1 apple, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces●

2 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch pieces●

1 cup dry red lentils●

6 cups homemade or store-bought low sodium chicken broth●

Greek yogurt, to garnish●

Finely chopped cilantro, to garnish●

Place mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds in a skillet and toast over high heat until spices begin to smell toasted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and process until fine.

Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat until oil is shimmering. Season chicken thighs with salt and add to pot skin side down. Cook until skin is golden, about 5 minutes, then flip and cook until other side is also brown, about another 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and reserve.

Here’s how I did it:

Note that I cooked them “sloppy”, happy to have small pieces come off – they will stay in the pot for the next step!

Add onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and cook, stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder and toasted spices and stir until vegetables are evenly covered with spices. Add garlic, ginger, sweet potato, apple and plum tomato and stir to coat. Add lentils then return chicken thighs to pot. Cover with broth or water and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes and lentils are soft and soup has thickened, about 1 hour.

Here’s how that next phase looked:

Remove the thighs from the soup, shred the meat, then return to the pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with yogurt and fresh cilantro.

Here’s the last part of the process:

Here is how mine turned out: I will be honest and admit the red lentils did “disappear” a bit in the soup: they added some nice creaminess but lost a bit of their texture – I think an hour is too long to simmer them in the soup.

I loved the yogurt added to it, but I would even use sour cream as well…either way, the cold bite is a nice addition – and the Indian spices gave it a nice rich depth as well…a fun vegetable soup with chicken!

Now, back to “Seinfeld” and the Mulligatawny Soup connection:

Seinfeld’s Hilarious Mulligatawny Moment!

Kramer introduces us to a wonder Chef who sells nothing but soup…but he’s a bit of a “prickly pear”…

Elaine, not realizing that the Chef’s nickname is “The Soup Nazi”, annoys him by rattling on and on and smacking her hands on the metal countertop:

He gets angrier and angrier until he finally screams out the hilariously iconic line:

It’s one of the great Seinfeld episodes and guess what?

This soup shop really exists!

It’s located on W. 55th and 8th avenue, and there are always at least a half dozen soup options – I did a taste test and here’s my review!

I also visited the diner that is shown on every episode of the show:

Yes, Tom’s is a regular on the series so I headed inside to see what they are cooking!

Here is that review!

While not in the show, there is a place in New York that makes a very unusual smashburger!

Why is that so unusual?

It’s made inside a gas station!

See this unique restaurant and my taste test here:

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