Chutney Mary’s Spicy Lobster Bisque

Name: Chutney Mary’s Spicy Lobster Bisque
Yield: Serves 12
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp cayenne or red chilli powder; 1 Tbsp cayenne or red chilli powder; 2 cm (¾ in) ginger, minced; 5-6 cloves garlic, minced; 3 Tbsp neutral-flavoured oil; 1 large onion, sliced thinly; 100 g (3½ oz, ½ cup) rice; 1 pinch saffron; 1 Tbsp almond flakes, toasted; 100 g (3½ oz, just under 1 stick) butter; 300 g (10 fl oz, 1¼ cups) single (light) cream; 1 Tbsp ground cumin; 1 Tbsp ground coriander seeds; 1 kg (2¼ lbs) live lobster (you can use 2 small ones); 1 medium carrot, finely chopped; 2 sticks celery, finely chopped; 4 bay leaves; ½ tsp anise seed; 200 g (7 oz, approx. 1 large) tomato, peeled, seeded and diced; 5 litres (8 pints, 5 quarts) fish stock; 50 g (2 oz, ½ cup) chopped mushrooms; 1 leek, white part only, finely minced; 6 cardamom pods, crushed; 2.5 cm (1 in) stick cinnamon

Preparation info

Serves
12

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Feast of Christmas

By Paul Levy

Published 1992

About

This madly luxurious soup is given a thrilling new twist in this recipe created for their Christmas menu by Chutney Mary, London’s Anglo-Indian restaurant. This tongue-tingling, palate-teasing version of a classic recipe is a good example of how Anglo-Indian cuisine was created in the first place and is a very economical use of lobster.

Ingredients

1 kg (2¼ lbs) live lobster (you can use 2 small ones)
2 sticks

Fish course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free
Winter
Christmas
December
Soup
Spicy

Method

Kill the lobster(s) by plunging them into boiling water or stab them in the back with a sharp heavy knife just where the head seems to meet the tail. Put it into a very large (more than 5-litre) saucepan and add the celery, carrot, leek, mushrooms, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, anise, bay leaves and fish stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 8–10 minutes, or until the lobster is cooked. R