If there is one vegetable that I really love it would be Brinjal, the irony is I don't have much recipes featuring this vegetable in my blog. Hopefully before completing another year I post few of my favorite dishes using brinjal. When I was home a month back Amma prepared Vangi Bath something which is very famous in Karnataka and Andhra, for me it was the very first time that I ever tried it. Now you know what would have happened I totally fell in love with it, simply because it had Amma's magic touch ;-) and also that it had brinjals.
I am part of Vegan Thursday a group hosted by Priya Suresh aks where we post Vegan recipes every first and last thursday in a month. This recipe was intended to be posted last week but I missed to post it last week.
VANGI BHATH RECIPE
Serves ~ 3-4 generously
Cook & Prep time ~ 30 mins
Recipe Source ~ Amma
Serving suggestion ~ with curd, appalam
Ingredients
Cooked rice - 2 cups
Brinjal (violet variety) - 3 medium
Potato - 1 large
Onions - 2 medium sliced
Garlic - 2 pods crushed
Ginger - 1 and 1/2 inch chopped
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
To powder
(dry roast all ingredients one by one, once cooled down grind to a powder)
Coriander whole - 1 tbsp
Red chili - 4 large
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Whole Jeera - 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 10
Cloves - 2
Coconut shavings - 2 tbsp
White sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Groundnuts - 1 tbsp
To Season
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Method
- Cut the brinjals into this stripes and put them in water mixed with some turmeric powder and salt. (This will keep the brinjals from turning black). Cut the potato into thin stripes. In a pan heat 1 tsp of oil and saute them well till they are crushed.
- Heat oil in a broad pan. Add the mustard and jeera. When they splutter add the hing and curry leaves. Add the onions and saute well till they turn transparent. Add the ginger and garlic and brinjals. Saute for 2 or 3 minutes till the brinjals are nearly done. Add the potato pieces, fry for 1 or 2 minutes or until it is well cooked.
- Add the turmeric powder, ground masala powder, salt and saute well. Add the cooked rice, mix gently. Add the lemon juice, mix well and check for salt and spice. Let it cook on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. add the sesame and groundnut powder and coriander leaves. mix well and remove from fire.
Cooks Wisdom
- You can add cashewnuts for more additional flavor
- Adding roasted groundnut powder enhances the taste
- Make sure that the rice grains are separate and not too mushy
