Vaangi Bhath – Brinjal Rice

Vaangi Bath Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 30 mts

Serves 4-5 persons

Cuisine: Karnataka

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Ingredients:

4 cups raw rice (cook rice such that each grain is separate, add a tsp of ghee and lemon juice to the rice and combine)

12 green or purple brinjals (thinly slice into 2″ pieces and place in salted water)

1 1/2 tbsps oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp channa dal (optional)

15 fresh curry leaves

pinch of turmeric pwd

2-3 tbsps roasted groundnuts

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

salt to taste

To be roasted and ground to a fine pwd:

6 whole dry red chillis (adjust to your spice level)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp khus-khus/gasagasalu/poppy seeds

large pinch cumin seeds

1/2 tbsp black gram dal (minappappu)

1/2 tbsp bengal gram/channa dal/senaga pappu

1/2 tbsp grated dry coconut

1 Marathi moggu

1 cinnamon stick (dalchinichakka)

1 clove

1/4 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp inguva

1 tsp oil

1 Heat a cooking vessel on medium heat and dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds, clove, marathi moggu, cinnamon and dry chillis for 2 mts. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add oil, add channa dal and urad dal and fry for two minutes till they turn red. Remove and keep aside. Add khus-khus, sesame seeds and grated coconut and fry for a minute and turn of heat. Add hing and stir fry for a few seconds. Cool and grind all the roasted ingredients to make a powder.
2 In the same vessel, add oil and once its hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the channa dal and once it turns red, add curry leaves and let the flavor of the curry leaves come out.
3 Add the brinjal pieces, turmeric pwd and salt and fry for few minutes until raw smell disappears.
4 Add the ground vangi bath masala pwd and combine well and cook further for another 2-3 mts. Add the raw rice and combine with the brinjal-spice mixture.
5 Add the roasted peanuts and adjust salt and combine with the rice.
6 Serve hot with yogurt and appadam. A one-pot complete meal!

Note:

This rice can be prepared using other vegetables like carrots, tindora, okra etc. The peanuts add to the flavor, so don’t skip this step.