Culinary jottings

The ordinary chicken or mutton mulligatunny, made without assistance in the way of stock, may, with some little pains, be sent up in better style than our cooks, as a rule, are satisfied with. We do not want a thin yellow liquid with queer-looking leaves and bits of fried onion floating in it. "We ask for a smooth, creamy potage, free from any lump or floating substance, and garnished with a few choice pieces of the chicken or mutton of which it was composed. Cut up a well-nurtured chicken or young fowl as if for fricassee, soak the pieces in cold water for a quarter of an hour, then slice up a couple of good-sized onions, and put them, with two table-spoonfuls of butter, into a stew-pan on a good fire. Fry the chicken and onions together till slightly browned, then pick out the chicken, and stir into the butter a couple of table-spoonfuls of mulligatunny paste or curry-powder (Barrie's "Madras," if possible). Cook the paste or powder with the butter and onions for five minutes, and then stir in a couple of pints of warm water. Add the chicken ; and if the pieces are not quite covered, put in water enough to do so. Let the contents come to the boil, then ease off the fire, and simmer for half an hour very gently. While this is going on, pound a couple of ounces of almonds in a mortar, with a coffee- cupful of milk, give it a pinch of sugar, and let the mixture stand till wanted. Now, having ascertained that the chicken is quite tender, stir in a dessert-spoonful of good chutney, a tea-spoonful of red currant jellv, and a teaspoonful of lime-juice, and, after five minutes' simmering, strain off the whole of the liquid into a bowl. Pick out the nicest pieces of chicken for garnish, and put them aside. Now, skim the surface of the liquid, and, when quite clear of grease, proceed to thicken it, using a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour, and stirring in the soup slowly. All having been poured in, strain into the saucepan the almond milk, using a piece of muslin in order to catch up the bits of nut. Let the mulligatunny come to the boil, and serve. The chief points to observe are : — First, the use of a really good paste or powder ; next the simmering and addition of a pleasant sub-acid ; then the straining, skimming, and thickening ; and lastly, the introduction of the almond milk. Instead of almond milk, cocoanut milk (the infusion of the nut, I mean) may be used, and a tablespoonful of cream, or a couple of raw yolks of eggs, may be stirred into the tureen with the soup, by degrees, just before serving. The choice pieces of chicken should also be served in the mulligatunny . For mutton mulligatunny follow this recipe, substituting a neck or breast of mutton for the chicken. It will be seen from these observations that, while there is no difficulty whatever in making mulligatunny of a superior, as well as of an ordinary kind, it is a soup that demands no little care and attention. Whether it is worth the trouble or not is a question that can only be decided by practical experiment. I have no hesitation in recommending the trial. ♦ Otl^i^IPTII]!^ Camp Cookery.