Mulligatawny soup 

Mulligatawny literally means ‘pepper water’ and is believed to be loosely based on an Indian stew the Brits loved during the Raj. There are many variations it seems, but this is my version which we love.
Ingredients
90 gm butter
1 onion sliced or diced
1-2 tsp garam masala
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp curry powder
500 gm uncooked chicken
½ cup lentils
2 Tbsp flour
½ cup tomato puree
2 L stock
1 cup cooked rice

Method
Melt butter and fry onions till golden, add spices and cook for 1 min,
Add chicken and fry for 5 mins
Add remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer covered 1.5-2 hours.
You can remove the chicken after 30 mins or leave in.  makes little difference to the flavor.
To serve you can serve as is or strain and add some of the chicken and rice to individual bowls. I add a dollop of plain yogurt.

Chook’s note: I rather like the texture of the lentils etc so I don’t strain the soup. I also add the rice to the soup rather than pour the hot soup over it in the serve dish.  I take the simple way – and if like me, you are freezing some of it, having all the ingredients together makes it simpler.