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Vegetable Mullagatawny

A thick vegetable stew with curry, onions, marrow, cucumbers, apples, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 734 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Vegetable Mullagatawny

2 quarts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Melt the butter in a large stewpan until it is about to brown.

  2. Add the sliced onions, vegetable marrow, cucumbers, and acid apples.

  3. Stir the mixture often.

  4. Cook over gentle heat until the vegetables are tender.

  5. Mix in the curry powder and salt.

  6. Stew for an additional 20 to 30 minutes.

  7. Gradually pour in enough boiling water to just cover the vegetables.

Strain and finish

  1. Press the mixture through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon when it is nearly a pulp.

  2. Heat the strained mixture in a clean stewpan.

  3. Add enough liquid to make 2 quarts.

  4. Adjust seasoning with salt, cayenne, or acid as needed.

  5. If butter appears on the surface, skim it off.

  6. Stir in arrow‑root mixed with cold broth to absorb the butter.

  7. Serve hot.

  8. Serve with rice if desired, though the soup is thick enough on its own.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cucumber + ricetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together734 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds richness and carries the curry flavour into the soup.
Onions
Break down while stewing to build body and a sweet, savoury base.
Vegetable marrow
Softens into the purée, adding bulk and a mild, tender texture.
Cucumbers
Soften and add moisture and a fresh, mild vegetable flavour.
Acid apples
Add acidity and fruitiness that balance the curry and help thicken the purée.
Curry powder
Provides the main spice aroma and flavour of the soup.

The step that matters

Pressing the mixture through the sieve when nearly pulped. If the vegetables are not soft enough, the purée stays grainy and thin. Pressing while they are nearly pulp lets the pectin and starch release for a smooth, thick texture.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, cucumber, pepper, rice):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, cucumber, pepper, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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