One of My Favourites :: Vegetable Mulligatawny

Liam loves to eat vegetables- if they don't look like vegetables!  Our diet is 95% vegetarian, so you can see the dilemma I have.  While Rick, Dean and I happily fix the vegetable feed bag on every night, Liam has to have 'gourmet vegies'.  I usually just give him a vegetable puree that contains legumes, poured over pasta (it's vegetable sauce Liam!) but I am always trying to get him to eat it in its more natural state . . . trying, yes, it is trying!

So the latest discovery is this delish dish for winter

I have adapted it from Delia's (who adapted it from Eliza Acton 1840 vintage!) as seen in this book.

But this is what I do:

Vegetable Mulligatawny

3 large onions, chopped
3-4 zucchini, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 large kumera (red sweet potato), diced
1 tin diced tomatoes
50g butter
seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1 tsp each of cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 cup basmati rice, boiled
1/2 cup red lentils, cooked (I throw these in with the rice into the rice cooker)
850 mL vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add onions.  Cook slowly over medium heat until brown and slightly caramelized.  I tend to put the onions on and then commence to chop the other vegies.

Place spices into a small frying pan and dry roast for 2-3 minutes or until the seeds jump and pop a little.  Tip them into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder, then add to the onions.

Next, add all vegetables and tomatoes to the saucepan and cook gently, covered until soft which will be about 20-30 mins.

This next step is optional.  If you want a smooth soup (as pictured), add stock and puree vegetables using a stick blender or pour into a conventional blender.  I have served it chunky, hence I cooked the rice and lentils in one operation with the vegetables, but only half a bowl was eaten by Liam. 

Add the cooked rice and lentils to the puree and stir.

I served this dish up four times in one week, twice to impromtu guests- Julie, it was diary-free when I made it for you, just used olive oil. We think it is very yummy and as you can see, Mr Fussy himself ate it all up!

Do you have to hide your vegetables too?  What's your favourite hidden vegetable dish?

xxx