Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A South Asian soup having a meat or chicken base and curry seasoning.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A famous East Indian soup made of meat or fowl, strongly flavored with curry. Also spelled mullatgatawny.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun See mullagatawny.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An Indian soup having a meat base and curry seasoning.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a soup of eastern India that is flavored with curry; prepared with a meat or chicken base

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Tamil miḷagutaṇṇī : miḷagu, pepper + taṇṇīr, cool water (taṇ, cool + ṇīr, water).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Transliteration of Tamil மூலிகைத்தன்னீர் "pepper water".

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Examples

  • As far as I can tell, the only agreed upon fact about mulligatawny is that it is a fusion of British and Indian cuisines -- and actually cooked more by the British, I believe, at least originally.

    Laura's Mistaken Mulligatawny Laura 2008

  • As far as I can tell, the only agreed upon fact about mulligatawny is that it is a fusion of British and Indian cuisines -- and actually cooked more by the British, I believe, at least originally.

    Archive 2008-09-01 Laura 2008

  • And oh, the taste of delicious, mysterious soups named "mulligatawny" and "Billi bi."

    Lea Lane: Julia (and Other Famed Cooks) and Moi 2009

  • You think if aliens invade Britain and I've got the choice of a rocket launcher to blow their annoying ET heads off or a pissing Knorr stock cube to make some delicious mulligatawny while men do it for me, I'm going down the broth route?

    Grace Dent's TV OD: Luther and Falling Skies 2011

  • You think if aliens invade Britain and I've got the choice of a rocket launcher to blow their annoying ET heads off or a pissing Knorr stock cube to make some delicious mulligatawny while men do it for me, I'm going down the broth route?

    Grace Dent's TV OD: Luther and Falling Skies 2011

  • I really want to figure out mulligatawny soup and daal--yum!

    Maria Rodale: Curry Chicken from Scratch Maria Rodale 2011

  • Thumbs Down: Naan and other breads; dals, including mulligatawny soup acceptable in Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance; biryani dishes; chutneys made with added sugar; samosas and fritters.

    THE NEW ATKINS FOR A NEW YOU Dr. Eric C. Westman 2010

  • This is my quick version of mulligatawny soup, a well-known standard of Indian cuisine.

    SARA MOULTON’S EVERYDAY FAMILY DINNERS SARA MOULTON 2010

  • Grace said ... ah, mulligatawny -- fun to say and fun to eat. very nice -- bring on the fall!

    Laura's Mistaken Mulligatawny Laura 2008

  • Months later, alone, in the restaurant early, I peeled a small beginning of skin and floated it into the pot of mulligatawny.

    Soup Mark Sutz 2010

Comments

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  • Pungent mockturtle oxtail mulligatawny. I'm hungry too.

    Joyce, Ulysses, 8

    January 3, 2007

  • One of my favorites....

    January 9, 2007

  • I love this word! It sounds very Irish/Scottish/Gaelic to me, but AmHer sez it's all Indian:

    ETYMOLOGY: Tamil miaguta : miagu, pepper + tar, cool water ( ta, cool + r, water).

    May 6, 2007

  • tamil "milagu" (மிளக�?) = pepper, and tamil "thanni" (தண�?ணீர�?) = water.

    December 16, 2007

  • "'Mullga-tawny', or pepper-water soup, was a favourite among those returning from India and the East, made of meat in a clear stock flavoured with pounded coriander seeds, cinnamon-like cassia, some black and cayenne pepper, turmeric, browned onions and garlic, with a little lemon juice and cream swirled in just before it was served. Everyone had a recipe for mulligatawny, and most served it with a ballast of boiled rice."

    --Kate Colquhoun, Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking (NY: Bloomsbury, 2007), 265

    January 18, 2017