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"Something Different"

COOL OFF WITH A SPICY SOUP

BY DANA JACOBI FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH

When the weather is hot, spicy dishes provide a form of internal air conditioning. This is one reason Indian dishes, as with those in most tropical parts of the world, use fiery ingredients so liberally. Whether it’s a vindaloo heavy with cayenne pepper, curries studded with fresh chile peppers, or a steamy cup of masala chai spiced with cinnamon and black peppercorns, Indian dishes all encourage your body’s natural cooling system by making you perspire.

During the Raj, the period when India was ruled by the British, Anglo-Indian cooks, understanding the health benefits of highly-spiced food yet aware of the more sensitive Western palate, created dishes whose intensity was adjusted to please the colonials. They succeeded so well that recipes for favorite dishes of the Raj, especially gentler curries made with prepared curry powder and mulligatawny soup, traveled as far as the United States. For Americans who grew up before the influx of Indian immigrants brought more authentically native cooking to our shores, dishes popular during the Raj were among the first Indian foods Americans tasted.

Summer and winter, mulligatawny soup, a ruddy purée that the British enhanced by adding chicken, is a light but filling one-dish dinner. To enrich the broth, whole, bone-in but skinless breast, can be poached in a commercial chicken stock. It comes out beautifully succulent, while boneless cutlets overcook easily, turning dry and tough.

This mulligatawny includes beans and an apple. Puréed in the soup, the beans assure a creamy texture while keeping it healthfully lean and adding beneficial complex carbs. The apple’s sweetness softens the underlying edge of the ginger’s flavor and the many spices used in curry powder. Adding a dollop of yogurt to each bowl of the finished soup provides a cooling contrast to the soup’s flavor. You can also garnish it with unsweetened coconut flakes, available now with reduced fat and without sulfites, at many health food stores.

Mulligatawny Soup - Makes 5 servings.

• 1 skinless whole chicken breast, 1 1/4 lbs.
• 4 cups fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large onion, chopped, 1 3/4 cups
• 1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1-1 1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
• Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup plain (unflavored) non-fat or low-fat yogurt
• 8 tsp. reduced-fat dried coconut (optional), for garnish

Place the chicken in a deep, large saucepan. Add the broth, beans, 1 cup of the onion, and apple. Over medium-high heat, bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the chicken is white in the center, about 25 minutes. Remove the chicken. When it is cool enough to handle, pull apart the meat into bite-size pieces and set aside. Transfer the remaining contents of the pot to a blender and whirl to a puree. Set aside. Wash out the pot.

In the clean pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the remaining onion, and green pepper until soft, about 6 minutes. Mix in the curry powder, ginger, and cayenne, if using, until they are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the puréed soup, potato and tomato paste. Simmer until the potato is tender, about 15 minutes.

To serve, divide the chicken among 4 soup bowls. Add the soup, then the yogurt. Sprinkle on the coconut, if using, and serve.

Per serving: 323 calories, 5 g. total fat (less than 1 g. saturated fat), 34 g. carbohydrate, 38 g. protein, 6 g. dietary fiber, 530 mg. sodium.

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“Something Different” is written for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy and recipe creator for AICR’s Stopping Cancer Before It Starts.

 

AICR offers a Nutrition Hotline (1-800-843-8114) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday. This free service allows you to ask a registered dietitian questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR is the only major cancer charity focused exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition and cancer. It provides a range of education programs that help Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S. It has provided more than $70 million for research in diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR’s Web address is www.aicr.org. AICR is a member of the World Cancer Research Fund International.
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RECIPE POSTED AUGUST 25, 2005

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