A recipe for chicken soup
To soothe your Sri Lankan soul
This soup is guaranteed to soothe your soul. Even if your soul is not Sri Lankan.
We were only ever served this soup if we were poorly, consigned to our sickbeds where we could sleep, read a comic or stare at the ceiling.
There wasn’t any TV to binge on. Daytime TV was non-existent, Pebble Mill at One was too boring, and Bod was all too brief.
It was this chicken soup that willed me back to the playground to continue our game of tag.
This soup may not seem very Sri Lankan, but my mother’s recipe originates from two broth recipes in the Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book. This, among other soothers, can be found in the Invalid Cookery section, tucked into the back of this book. As well as the broth, you’ll find instructions for an invalid blancmange, raw beef sandwiches and calf’s foot jelly.
Mum never had a specific recipe. Bar the chicken, this soup was made with whatever vegetables were on hand. And, the chicken was always cooked with the skin on and bone in.
As Ms Hilda Deutrom states for ‘a stronger broth the chicken must not be skinned and the bones may be broken up to draw out all the goodness.’
I always use dark meat, chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin-on, bone-in, though not broken. I make this with new potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, onion, garlic and ginger. The spices are minimal - just whole cumin and coriander and a pinch of dried chilli.
If you are feeling under the weather, your glands are swelling and an iron grip has taken hold of your throat; you will need food that will heal, nourish and speed up your recovery.
Let this soup work its magic.