Bharli Vaangi / Stuffed Brinjal
What actually is bharli vaangi?
If you have ever been to a Maharashtrain house or restaurant you will never miss this recipe. “Bharli vaangi” . Bharli is stuffed and vaangi are brinjals.
This preparation is as common as chole/ rajma for North Indian houses. We Marathis make it at least once a week when the brinjals are in season. These are now available throughout the year but ones you find in winter are fresh and tastier .
How it’s made?
Baby brinjals are slit and stuffed with mixture of peanuts ,coconut along with some other common spices. This is a dry curry, cooked with minimal water and steam does the job of cooking vegetable. this itself adds to flavour ,i believe.
What makes it unique?
The taste, aroma of this curry is different than many other curries because the stuffing has both peanuts as well as coconut which are blended with a typical Maharashtrian spice mix which is called Goda masala. the spice mix very popular across India is Garam masala which give heat to a taste and makes it spicier with pepper content in it. Whereas the Goda masala is mild,add to flavour than the heat to dish, hence its called Goda (which means milder.)
A thali comprising of bharli vaangi, bajari bhakari, (pearl millet roti) spring onions, a sesame chikki or simply a piece of jaggery complete the warmth you need on a chilly winter day.
The recipe starts with cleaning the brinjals and preparing them to stuff.
The recipe starts with cleaning the brinjals and preparing them to stuff.
Later making the masala paste. — it’s mixing all of them together and adding some water to make paste.. it’s as simple as that.
Stuff prepared paste into slits of brinjals.
Cook on slow flame, adding minimal water.
Any leftover paste can be added to make little gravy alongside brinjals.
Any leftover paste can be added to make little gravy alongside brinjals.
Cook on slow flame till done.
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 7-8 small aubergines/ brinjals
- 4 tbsp roasted peanuts .. powdered roughly
- 1 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp goda masala or Garam masala
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp Roasted cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder or more to taste
- 1 tsp salt--or to taste
- 1/2 tsp Jaggery optional
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- Few sprigs of coriander finely chopped
- 1 + 1 tbsp oil
Ingredients
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- Wash brinjals. Remove any small prickly thorns they have on green part . Cut the stem halfway through. later slit brinjals into four pieces leaving them intact at the stem portion. (As shown in picture) . Soak them in water for few minutes as we prepare paste.
- Make a paste of all the ingredients ( except cumin seeds) with 1 tbsp oil and 2-3 tbsp of water.
- Stuff the brinjals with the prepared paste. Keep aside. If any more prepared paste is left, don’t discard,its used for gravy.
- Put 1 tbsp oil in pan, add cumin seeds, 1 tbsp of chopped coriander. (You can even add curry leaves if you like flavour) . Drop in stuffed brinjals and sauté gently on medium flame till all sides get little fried.
- After 2-3 minutes, add in any leftover paste and pour in 1/2 cup of water. turn the flame on low and cover the pan with lid. Simmer for 10 minutes, occasionally checking . Add in more 1/2-1 cup of water depending on how well the brinjals are cooked.
- Brinjals should be ready after 15-20 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander &/or fresh scrapped coconut. Bharli vaangi are traditionally served with jowar/ bajara bhakari but goes well with chapati/roti equally!
Good to know:
- Bharli vaangi should be cooked with minimal amount of water to give that rustic/ chulha flavour. More of cooking should be done with help of steam. Add too much of water and it becomes brinjal with gravy like restaurant style.
- Goda masala is a spice mix from Maharashtra. You can find recipe here. It can be substituted with Garam masala.
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