Vegan Creamy Cauliflower Soup | Cauliflower and Potato Mulligatawny Soup

This vegan creamy cauliflower soup has flavours of an Indian curry. This spiced soup is thick and hearty– pairs well with crusty bread.

It is cauliflower season in India. Winters give us a bountiful harvest of pristine white cauliflowers, plump florets jostling for space with each other. In the summers and rainy season, cauliflowers are not only expensive but also have a weird off odour about them. This automatically keeps me away from making any cauli dishes in summer.

I love to cook the seasonal cauliflower to use in a variety of dishes – Alu Gobhi is an all time favourite, so is gobhi paratha stuffed to its gills with spiced grated cauliflower. Have you tried a bharta or an Indian style cauliflower mash?

Also, winter=soup season! Chilly evenings make you want to hug a steaming hot bowl of soup (or hot chocolate). The very image spells hygge for me.

Coming to this bowl of creamy cauliflower soup…this one is a take on mulligatawny soup.

Mulligatawny – the word, is an anglicised version of ‘Milagu tanni’ which means pepper water in Tamil. Pepper Rasam is the dish that comes closest to this description of milagu tanni.

The cauliflower mulligatawny soup is not watery by any means. Pureed vegetables, lentils and a mix of spice powders make it a thick, creamy and filling soup. Coconut milk rounds off the flavours of the spices beautifully. This creamy cauliflower soup makes for a hearty winter lunch or dinner. Pair it with a slice of crusty bread, a salad or a grilled sandwich.

The process to make a vegan creamy cauliflower soup is pretty simple:

• Prep the veggies (cauliflower and potatoes)
• Prep the aromatics (ginger, garlic, onion and chillies)
• Cook the lentils and veggies
• Puree all the ingredients together
• Season, add coconut milk and simmer

Learn how to make a simple vegetable stock in the pressure cooker in less than 30 minutes. You can also use a stock cube dissolved in hot water if you like.

You can also serve this cauliflower mulligatawny soup over cooked grains like millet, brown rice or quinoa (like a dal) along with some crispy roasted sweet potatoes for a hearty meal in a bowl.

Also try these easy cauliflower recipes:

15-minute Cauliflower fried rice (keto)

Roasted cauliflower steak with whisky sauce

Turmeric rice with cauliflower

Simple cauliflower mash – Gobhi Bharta

Amma’s simple cauliflower peas koottu

Cauliflower Dill Parathas

Vegan Creamy Cauliflower soup

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: soups stews

Cuisine: global vegetarian, Indian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp crushed whole black pepper corns
• 1 small onion sliced
• 4 cloves garlic sliced
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 2 green chillies slit
• 2 cups cauliflower florets heaped
• 2 medium potatoes peeled and diced (2 cm cubes)
• 1/3 cup masoor dal pink lentils, washed
• 3 cups veg stock
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200 ml coconut milk

for garnish

• toasted cumin seeds
• fresh parsley or coriander leaves
• 2-3 tsp coconut milk

Method

 

1. Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker or instant pot.
2. Fry the bay leaf and cumin seeds.
3. Stir in the crushed pepper corns, onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the cauliflower florets, potato cubes and washed-drained lentils. Saute for 3-4 minutes on high flame.
5. Pour the veg stock / water, spice powders, salt and pressure cook for 5 minutes. (in a pressure cooker, reduce flame to sim after one whistle and cook for 5 minutes).
6. Fish out the bay leaf and discard. Transfer contents to a blender. Cool for a bit and blend to a smooth puree.
7. Return the soup to a saucepan. Stir in coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer for 2 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pot of soup.
8. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with toasted cumin seeds, fresh herbs and a swirl of coconut milk. Serve hot.

Notes

I like to keep some parboiled florets of cauliflower aside for garnish, as you can see in the pic.

For more such healthy vegetarian recipes, get my book The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian is out! Get all the info about my book and order it here. 

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