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Consomme Curry
Cook a tablespoonful butter and a sliced onion slowly together without browning the butter; put this into soup-kettle with a large, sour apple cored and sliced without paring, a sprig of thyme and parsley, a bay leaf, a tablespoonful lemon juice, 1 level teaspoonful salt, and 1 teaspoonful curry powder. Stir all together, and add 1 quart chicken stock; simmer gently ten minutes; put 2 tablespoonfuls boiled rice into tureen, strain over the hot soup, and serve at once.
A clear curried chicken broth in the Anglo-Indian style, thickened by nothing at all — the apple and onion are strained out and only their flavour stays. It comes together in under half an hour.
- Bloom the curry powderCurry powder before the liquid -- The powder is stirred into the buttered onion and other flavourings in the kettle before the stock is added, rather than dropped into hot broth at the end. That order gives the spice a moment in fat, which cooks generally find gives a rounder flavour than powder stirred into liquid.
- Soup-kettleAny 3-quart saucepan. The period term implies a tall pot for long stock-making, but this soup simmers only ten minutes.
- The sour appleA tart cooking apple: Bramley, Granny Smith, or a firm russet. It is left unpared, and skin and flesh alike are strained out again, so only the flavour and acidity reach the tureen.
- Curry powder strengthA teaspoonful in a quart of stock gives a mild, fragrant broth rather than a hot one. Period commercial blends were generally turmeric-forward and comparatively mild; if using a modern hot Madras blend, start with half and taste.
- Stock qualityWith no cream, flour or long reduction, the soup is only as good as the chicken stock. Use a well-flavoured unsalted or lightly salted stock, and adjust the teaspoon of salt to it.
- Ten minutes means tenThe recipe wants a short simmer, not a long infusion; strain once the apple has softened rather than letting it cook down.
- The riceTwo tablespoonfuls of boiled rice go into the tureen and the soup is strained over them, not stirred into the pot; it is a garnish and the broth should stay clear. Rinse the cooked rice if it is starchy.
- YieldA quart of stock serves three to four as a first course. It reheats well, though the rice softens; cook the rice fresh if you are keeping the broth overnight.