“Vangi” means Brinjal/Eggplant in Telugu. Vangibhath is a rice dish prepared using Brinjal/Eggplant and Bhath powder. The eggplant variety Eerangere Badnekayi available in Mysore is very suitable for this dish.
Time Required: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
6 Cups Cooked Rice
2 Cups Long Eggplant either Green or Blue
½ Cup Fresh Coconut, Grated
3tbsp Bhath Powder
1tbsp Ghee/Clarified Butter
8 Cashew nuts, Chopped into two or four pieces
2tbsp Oil
1tsp Bengal Gram
1tsp Urad Dal/Black Gram Split
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
Few Curry Leaves
2 Red Chilies, Broken
Juice of ½ Lemon
1tsp Grated Jaggery/Molasses
Salt to taste
Method:
Cook Rice in such a way that each grain is separate. Spread the cooked Rice on a plate and let it cool. Chop Brinjal/Eggplant into 1 inch by 1 cm pieces and keep the pieces immersed in water to avoid them turning black.
In a Kadai heat Ghee and add the Cashew nuts and fry until they turn a light pink, remove this on the Rice along with the Ghee. In the same Kadai, heat Oil and add Bengal Gram, Urad Dal and Mustard Seeds, when the lentils start turning pink and the Mustard seeds start to splutter, add Curry Leaves, Red Chilies, Turmeric Powder and Brinjal pieces.
Fry for 2 minutes and close the kadai and cook on low flame for 2 minutes. Open the kadai and add Bhath powder and Coconut and mix well. Again close the kadai and cook for a minute or two. Make sure that the Brinjal pieces are cooked.
Now add the Rice to this mixture along with Salt, Jaggery and Lemon juice and mix well by hand. Remove to a serving dish and serve with Raitha.
