This hearty and flavorful vegan mulligatawny soup is made with fresh veggies simmered in a base of curried creamy yellow split peas.

Also know as Indian split pea soup with veggies. Well, at least my version is.

The inspiration for this dish came from this lovely Indian restaurant that I visited with my family a few weekends ago. I wasn’t feeling great and was reluctant to even go out that night, but I did and when I saw this on the menu I decided it sounded like a tasty and comforting option. I was right. So right, in fact, that days later when I had a fully developed cold, I decided I wanted more of this soup. I looked online and in a few cookbooks for a recipe and began to suspect that what constitutes “mulligatawny soup” was up to some interpretation. Wikipedia confirmed this. I did notice that chicken and rice seemed to be common themes in lots of the recipes I found, but these ingredients were certainly not part of the soup I’d enjoyed earlier in the week.

I’d have to come up with my own recipe. So I did, creating a vegan mulligatawny soup as close as I could to the one that I had out. I can’t attest to the authenticity of my version, but it was delicious and pretty darn close to the version I’d been trying to replicate.

Before you make this, a quick word on spice level: I love heat in my food, and the recipe I’m giving you is for a soup that suits my spicy palette. As I ate this for dinner alongside my boyfriend, who is not into spicy food, he continuously coughed, blew his nose and chugged water, informing me that it was waaaaayyy too spicy and I just couldn’t tell because I was congested. I disagreed. My lips didn’t burn. My mouth didn’t burn. I ate the leftovers a couple nights in a row as things started to clear up and still didn’t find it terribly spicy at all. Nonetheless, I wanted to warn anyone who doesn’t do well with excessive chili levels, as I always do, to start with a little bit and increase incrementally. I also want to encourage anybody that does like a good dose of heat to let loose and load the pot up with chili paste and powder.

Another quick not on the veggies. I used a mixture of broccoli, snap peas and carrots, but don’t feel limited by this. Stick with six cups, and use your favorite veggies in any combination. Green beans, baby corn, peas, asparagus and cauliflower would all work well too. If you go outside of those I’ve used and suggested, just keep in mind that you will need to increase cooking time a notch for harder veggies (like potatoes), and decrease it for softer ones (like spinach).

Print Mulligatawny Soup This hearty and flavorful vegan mulligatawny soup is made with fresh veggies simmered in a base of curried creamy yellow split peas. Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes Servings 6 -8 Author Alissa Ingredients 2 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion diced

3 garlic cloves minced

1/2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp. turmeric

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

2 tsp. chili powder *see note above on heat levels

1 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. paprika

6-8 cups vegetable broth

1 lb. dried yellow split peas

1 cup diced tomatoes about 2 small or 1 large tomatoes

1 tbsp. Asian chili paste *again, see note above

juice of 1 lemon

6 cups fresh veggies of your choice **see my other note above - I used broccoli, snap peas and carrots

1/2 cup fresh cilantro Instructions Heat oil over medium heat in large saucepan or stock pot. Add onion and sautee about five minutes, until soft. Add garlic, ginger and dried spices (everything up to paprika) and continue to sautee another minute or so. Add 6 cups of broth, peas, tomatoes and chili paste. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until peas are tender, about an hour. Remove from heat and puree in blender or food processor, in batches if necessary. Return to stove and add return to a simmer, adding additional broth if thinning is needed. Stir in veggies and lemon juice and simmer until veggies are just tender, about 5-10 minutes, depending on your preference. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro.

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