Add the chicken meat and stir. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock and stir in the lentils and rice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the rice and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Remove from the burner and purée in the food processor until smooth, in batches if necessary. Some prefer their soup smooth and creamy; we prefer ours a little coarser, so that you can distinguish the ingredients. Put the soup back into the pot, add the tamarind nectar, and reheat. Garnish and serve. Makes 7 cups.

The recipe is our personal modification of Brennan's approximation of the mulligatawny served at the West End Hotel in Bangalore.

Can't find tamarind nectar at your local grocer? What, no Latino food section?! No Asian food section either? Try a little apricot nectar, or even apple juice.

We recently tested a vegan version of the dish, substituting the same amount of canned pumpkin for the chicken and adding about ¾ cup of toasted slivered almonds. It came out much thicker than our regular mulligatawny so we added a fourth can of vegetable broth, and that made it go a little further. We also recommend that you don't puré too finely; the almonds should still be identifiable. Next time, we'll soak some sultanas in some of the hot broth while we purée the rest of the mixture. The contrast of the sweet sultanas might offer a fun surprise.