Bharli Vangi or Stuffed Eggplant

Bharli Vangi or Stuffed Eggplant

Serves: 4-5 persons

Bharli Vangi or stuffed eggplants is one of the popular dish in Maharashtra. It is as simple as we make other curries. Eggplants with a variety of spice mixture, cooked on low heat with patience. That’s the key to create this perfect authentic delicacy. Eggplant is my favourite and I enjoy eating in any form. I grew up eating this since my childhood. My grandmother was so perfect in making Maharashtrian food and Bharli Vangi was her speciality. She used to make them with fresh grated coconut. My husband is not a fan of eggplants but he likes the stuffing and the richness of this subji. So, I started adding potatoes (my mom’s advice) and the combination was a hit in my house.

I hope you all will love and try this recipe.

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Let’s start in making:

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Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 5 small purple eggplants
• 1 medium potato
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups water

For the stuffing:

• 1 cup dry coconut
• ½ cup peanut powder
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoon goda masala
• 2 tablespoon kolhapuri masala( see notes below)
• ¼ cup grated jaggery
• 3 teaspoon tamarind pulp
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoon oil

For the seasoning:

• 6-7 tablespoon oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder or regular chilli powder

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Stuffed eggplant and potatoes

Method:

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1. Wash and clean the eggplants. Slit them into 4 parts (like a plus sign) without cutting the stem. Add enough water in a bowl and add eggplants. Keep it aside. wash and clean potatoes. Peel the skin off. Chop into chunks or desired shape. Add these chunks into a seperate bowl of water.
2. Let’s prepare the stuffing. Add dry coconut and sesame seeds into the pan. Dry roast them on low heat. Do not burn. Keep it aside.
3. In a bowl, add roasted coconut, sesame seeds, peanut powder, goda masala, kolhapuri masala, jaggery, tamarind pulp, red chilli powder, salt and 2 tablespoon oil. Mix everything with your hands.
4. Remove eggplants from the water and pat dry them from outside. Add this stuffing in each eggplant. In the remaining stuffing add all the potato chunks and mix well with your hands.
5. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Add asafoetida, turmeric, and red chilli powder. Add chopped onion. Sauté for a minute.
6. Add potatoes with stuffing. Give a quick stir. Add eggplants gently. Add water. Keep the lid on and let the eggplants and potatoes cook well on low heat. Check in between and turn over the eggplants. This is the main step and it may take 20-30 minutes.
7. Check if the potatoes and eggplants are cooked completely with a fork. Add chopped cilantro and mix well.
8. Serve hot with bhakri or roti.

Notes:

1. Kolhapuri masala is optional. Instead, you can increase goda masala quantity too. I like this subji to be little spicy. If you don’t have goda masala, just use garam masla.
2. I always use kashmiri red chilli powder. It gives perfect red colour to the food without increasing spice level.
3. I use tamarind pulp which is available in stores.
4. Potatoes are optional. You can add more eggplants if you wish to.
5. This subji is little more oily than the regular subjis. Do not hesitate to add oil since it will be more tasty.

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