Vangi Bhath Recipe

This delicious Indian eggplant and rice dish is always a winning combination.

Summary

Preparation Time10 MinCooking Time20 Min
Ready In30 MinDifficulty LevelEasy
Servings4CuisineIndian
CourseMain DishSpecialityPart of Menu
Main IngredientEggplant

Recipe Story

Vangi Bhat is a delicious one pot meal. It is a wonderful combination of eggplant and rice combined with lovely aromatic spices. This is a typical Maharashtrian specialty but enjoyed throughout Southern India as well. My grandmother was an expert when it came to cooking and this dish was no exception. Whenever we would visit, this dish was made. We would eat it with home made papads (crispy then lentil wafers), it was a wonderful and delicious combination.

Ingredients

 
2 cups of Basmati rice
 
2 Japanese eggplants (these are a firm variety that will stand up well to the cooking)
 
2 tsp cumin seeds
 
2 tsp coriander seeds
 
2-3 dried red chilies
 
½ cup desiccated coconut flakes (unsweetened)
 
1 tsp garam masala (use kala or goda masala if available)
 
1 tsp black mustard seeds
 
6-8 fresh curry leaves
 
pinch of asafetida
 
1 Bay leaf
 
salt, to taste
 
10-12 toasted, unsalted cashews (large pieces)
 
2 tbsp yogurt
 
freshly chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
 
freshly grated coconut as a garnish (optional)
 
2-3 tbsp oil (vegetable or canola)

Directions

Wash and drain the rice thoroughly at least 1 hour prior to use.

In a small dry skillet on medium low heat, toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried red chilies and desiccated coconut. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly toasted. Be careful not to burn the spices. Remove quickly from the heat and add the garam masala. Let cool and using a spice grinder (or clean coffee grinder) grind the spices into a fine powder.

Just before needed, trim and cut the eggplant into even pieces (1 inch in size).

In a large deep skillet or soup pot on medium high heat, add the oil. When hot, add the black mustard seeds, asafetida and the fresh curry leaves. Next, add the rice and stir until well coated with the fragrant oil (about 2-3 minutes). Add the cashews, bay leaf, salt and the freshly ground spice mixture. Mix well to combine and add the eggplant pieces. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a good boil, cover and reduce the heat. Let simmer until done (around 10-12 minutes). Halfway through the cooking process, add the yogurt and carefully stir through the rice and eggplant mixture. The rice should be thoroughly cooked and the eggplant should be soft and tender. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and freshly grated coconut. Serve hot with papad and yogurt on the side.

Comments

Meera Shanbhag says :

The comments above are interesting but I made this the traditional way like in the recipe & it was perfect! This dish reminded my family of our childhood back home in India, it's our new favorite comfort food dish! WE LOVED IT!
Posted on: 4 November 2011 - 10:25pm

Samina Tapia says :

This is the perfect comfort food for a cold day! My favorite dinner!
Posted on: 7 November 2011 - 10:56am

EvaEva says :

I made this recipe the other night with a couple of modifications, and it is delightful. The flavour was beautiful and balanced, and now I have a new recipe that I know I can make in different ways and it will be great. My modifications were to use a japanese rice which gave it a wonderful bite, and I did not have coriander, so I did not use that. I used more cashews than stated in the recipe, I used a cup of coconut powder instead of the flakes stated in the recipe, and I baked the eggplant with some sea salt and extra virgin olive oil for about 20 minutes before adding to the rice mixture. The eggplant had a slightly crispy carmelized quality from the baking, and that enhanced this recipe. I did need to use about 1.5 to 2 more cups of water to cook the rice completely. I'll be making this again in a day or two. Delicious.
Posted on: 1 September 2010 - 10:57am

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