Vangi Bhath | Brinjal Rice Recipe | Lunch box recipe

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.

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