Recipes: Crockpot Vegan Mulligatawny Indian Soup

The history of mulligatawny is hard to trace back to one definitive source. Legend has it that British soliders in India ordered their servants to prepare soup for them and mulligatawny (meaning "pepper water") was the result. The soldiers brought the recipe back to England, where it took on a life of its on.

No two mulligatawny recipes are ever the same, but generally the soup includes a chicken base, shredded meat, fruit, vegetables, cream, Indian spices, and, of course, curry. In this vegan crockpot recipe, I've kept the flavors as best I could by substituting winter squash and tempeh for the meat and coconut powder for the cream. Note that when you are making this soup, you will want to adjust the spices to your taste level. I don't like my food very hot-spicy, but if you do, you might want to kick up the seasonings a notch.

Like all curries, the flavor of this soup improves with time, so don't be afraid to prepare it several days in advance. Also, don't be afraid to swap out ingredients: replace cranberries with raisins, butternut squash with acorn squash, lime juice with lemon, etc.

Vegan Mulligatawny Soup Recipe
for the Crockpot or Slow Cooker

You'll need the following ingredients:

1 cup roasted & smashed butternut squash*
1 cup roasted and smashed pumpkin*
8 oz 5-grain tempeh, cubed
3/4 c. chopped carrots
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, & diced
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 T. crushed/chopped dried tomatos
3 T. diced fresh green onions
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1 t. fresh lime juice
1 T. garam masala
1 t. mild curry powder
1 t. tumeric
3 cups vegetable broth
4 T. coconut powder (from your local Asian market)
1 t. smoked salt
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. ginger powder
dash cayenne pepper

In a large crockpot or slow cooker, put squash(es) and tempeh in bottom of crockpot. Add apple, carrots, canned & dried tomatoes, onions, and cranberries. Add lime juice, spices, coconut powder, and broth. Stir to mix spices into the broth. Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. The soup is ready to serve as soon as it get hots, but cooking longer will allow flavors to blend. Serve over a scoop of cooked rice.

* I cut my squashes in half, removed the seeds and innards, and roasted cut side down in a 400 degree F oven until they were tender, about an hour and a half. Don't throw away those seeds: both butternut squash and pumpkins seeds can be rinsed and toasted for a delicious snack!