Vaangi Baath

Vaangi Baath (Eggplant rice) is another speciality dish that is borrowed from Karnataka. Key to tasty vaangi baath depends on the "vaangi baath masala" that we use.

My dad is not so crazy about eggplants and so, this vegetable occasionally shows up at our household, and that too only for kathirikkai thogayal. If me & my mom crave for eggplant curry (or) kothsu, we sneakily enjoy it when my dad is not around (or) away for a tour. At my in-laws, it is a different story. My hubby is an eggplant lover and he wouldn't mind to see eggplant even in rasam :-)

My hubby has this memory of eating "Vaangi baath" at one of his friend's during his childhood days and he always reminisce about it. Couple of times in the past, I tried making my own version of vaangi baath and it didn't really impress him. Both the times, it came out so-so and little short of something.

Last night, I was very tired to make an elaborate dinner and decided to wrap up with some kind of one-pot meal. I had some fresh brinjals sitting in my fridge and I got into this "vaangi-baath-adventure-mode".. again! I ventured into making vaangi baath after finalizing on one of the recipes from the internet. Thankfully, it turned out great. Vaangi baath was very tasty and had a wonderful flavor too. I am glad that my husband's cravings are finally satisfied as he "double okay'ed" this recipe :-)

Ingredients

Uncooked Rice (Preferably Basmati or Sona Masoori) - 1 cup

Eggplants - 8-10 nos
(Stems removed, halved and then sliced into ¾ inch wedges and placed in cold water)
Vangi Baath Masala - 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
Roasted Peanuts or Cashews - 2-3 tbsp (I used only peanuts)
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1-2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2-3 tbsp (add to your taste)
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Whole Urid Dal - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chillies - 2-3 nos (halved)
Curry Leaves - Few
Oil - 2-3 tbsp (I used gingelly oil)

Method

Cook rice separately (1 cup of rice : 1.5 cups of water) and let it cool completely. To this cooked rice, add ghee & lemon juice and mix it well. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When it starts to splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, peanuts (or cashews), halved dry red chillies and curry leaves. Saute till the lentils turn golden brown.

Now add eggplant and stir fry continuously for 5 mins till oil and lentils are coated well. Now add vaangi baath powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste and mix well. Cook at medium heat for 5-8 more minutes, stirring in between.

When the eggplants are cooked well, add cooked rice and mix well.

Serve this delicious Vaangi Baath with cool Raita and enjoy.

Events

Linking this to "Lets Cook - Rice" event hosted by Radhika