Vangi bhath recipe or brinjal rice recipe – I love anything with vangi (kathirikai or brinjal) in it. Roasted, grilled, fried, sautéed, curried, you name it! I don’t remember liking kathirikai so much as a kid but now, I pick it up every week during vegetable shopping. In Singapore, the more common variety is the longer purple ones that are called Japanese brinjal. The good part is, they usually don’t have worms or bugs in it and stay fresh in the fridge for a longer time. They also don’t have the bitterness that sometimes the fat purple eggplants have.
But I really couldn’t resist these smaller eggplants when I came across them in the Indian store.. I got it from the local Malayali store and immediately made vangi bhath with it, a South Indian rice recipe with brinjal, rice, and spices.
Cube the brinjal and dunk them into the tamarind juiceThe basic recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan’s Southern Spice, a book that I turn to so much for anything South Indian. Don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients to make Vangi Bath, it’s just a bit detailed because I have given very clear instructions to prepare it.
If you love eggplant or brinjal as much as we do, I highly recommend this szechuan egglant recipe, ennai kathirikkai kuzhambu, brinjal vindaloo which is my mom’s specialty, and this easy eggplant chutney recipe. More spicy rice dishes? Browse through all South Indian rice recipes and pick your favourite.
- 1 cup cooked rice (I used ponni rice but basmati will work too)
- A marble-sized ball of tamarind
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 6 small aubergines / eggplant / kathirikai
- For Spice Powder:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- ½" stick cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 4 dry red chillies (more for spicier version)
- 3 tsp Bengal gram / chana dal / kadala paruppu
- 2 tsp urad dal / ulatham paruppu / uzhunnu parippu
- 1 tbsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen works)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds / jeera / jeerakam
- ½ tsp asafoetida / hing / perungayam
- 1 dry red chilli, torn into pieces
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tsp ghee
- ¼ cup halved cashew nuts
- Soak tamarind in ½ cup warm water for 10 mins and extract juice. Add salt and turmeric to this and transfer to a pan.
- Cube the vangi and add to the tamarind juice and let soak for 15 mins.
- Heat oil for spice powder in a pan and add remaining ingredients for spice powder. Fry till spices are fragrant and the dals turn golden brown. Cool and grind to a powder.
- Heat ghee for garnish in the same pan (if using) and fry cashew nuts until golden brown. Set aside.
- Heat oil for tempering in the same pan and add all the ingredients for tempering. When mustard seeds start popping, add the aubergines with the tamarind extract.
- Cover pan and simmer for about 10 mins till the aubergines are tender and water is almost completely adsorbed.
- Mix in the cooked rice and spice powder and remove from fire.
- Garnish with the fried cashew nuts and serve warm with raita.
I tried this and it ended up delicious. Thanks for sharing.
nags, really a wonderful rice dish, had a perfect lunch. thanks 🙂
thanks. its a great recipe!
I did not like it after i tasted it… dont try this!!!
Very pretty pic !!!
And you have a Malayali store there????
I can never find anything Mal in the Indian stores here. The closest I get to South Indian is Andhra pickle 🙁
yummy , mouthwatering recipe:) gotta have me some of that
[email protected] Meenal's kitchen
YUM! I love making Vangi bhath with freshly ground powder any day to MTR pd, which is great too but fresh pd is better. looks delicious! 🙂
I am just preparing this tempting dish,will keep you posted with the results.But thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much for letting me know Sonu. Glad you liked the brinjal rice recipe! 🙂
oooh! nags! this i GOTTA try! i've heard so much of this dish! the prob is my folks don't like brainjal at all 🙁 so i guess will be making this soley for my benefit! 😀
I am just preparing this tempting dish,will keep you posted with the results.But thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much for letting me know Sonu. Glad you liked the brinjal rice recipe! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe Nags. I tried it and came out so good. 🙂
This is such a good recipe! I made it for the first time today and it turned out perfect. Thanks so much!!
Anon – thank you so much for leaving a note after trying 🙂 makes me feel so happy it was useful! Leave your name next time na 🙂
just tried your recipe. Loved it.. finished one plate 🙂
hey! Seriously very good 🙂 I like the fact that the recipe has less masala(garam). Will try this recipe sometime this week! Super!
I am probably like u anything brinjal, i swallow it! The rice looks fabulous! Happy Ugadi!
I eat brinjals only in baigan bharta but your pic is so tempting that I can try it!!
Loks fabulous, love vaangi bath.
Used to love vangi bhath made the Maharashtrian way with the unique tasting masala powder – thanks for reminding me with these superb pics!
I love Eggplants and like you said.. anything with it.. hmmm mouthwatering recipe and esp…those pics that made me crave for your plate of vangi bhat :).
Was looking for a vaangi bhath recipe for Ugadi 🙂
mouth watering pic! wonderful recipe too. I love vangi bath, and i recently made it for my brother and packed it for lunch to office for him, and he called me up to tell me how much he liked it:D I have a pic lying somewhere in my archives…will post soon, i hope..
I didn’t but I seem to love most veggies now, anything rice suits me
Thats absolutely a yummy combo..lovely idea..would love to taste some..
I love love Vangi Baath. Its my favourite. My granny has a recipe of her own. I should make it someday and post it 🙂
Lovely pics too, Nags!
I love vangi bath..This looks delicious.Nice click 🙂
I too love brinjals a lot! And have made this once or twice..think its time to make it again!
im an eggplant lover and ofcourse, i love vangibath!! time for lunch now!! 😀
as others said, your pictures r really tempting me.. i am not a fan of brinjal.. i love baingan bartha.. other than that, i don’t like brinjal… but ur vangi bath is tempting me enough to try. i will make sometime soon.
Mmmmm….nice click…thinking of making vangi bath from many days …should try your recipe….
Sounds delicious..I’ve never tried this dish..looks very tempting.
lovely recipe and excellent picture as usual 🙂
A perfect click and I too love kathrikai,long since I made will try yours very soon
Sounds tangy and delicious!
a very good looking Vanghi Bhath. i have never made the masala at home, always get the spice mix from the store. i’ll have to try this.
i used to hate brinjal..would tolerate it in bagara baingan..more for the bagar than the baingan…but now i have warmed up to it a lil..not much tho. The pic looks delicious…jeeves would drool if he looks at ur pic!!
LOVE aubergines, eggplants, brinjals.. Lovely eggplant rice. Greats pics.
U jolted me out of my so called I know Tamil status..I was in tamilnadu as a student for more than a year and I always thought kathirikkai was cucumber (maybe bcoz of the malu word kakkri). Thank god never went veg shopping in Tamilnadu. Ur rice dishes are always my fave ones…the taste of the Coriander rice I made still lingers in my mouth..lol..will try this one out too
YUM! I love making Vangi bhath with freshly ground powder any day to MTR pd, which is great too but fresh pd is better. looks delicious! 🙂
I love that first pic, it is screaming to grab the bowl and eat, looks so so yumm.
yummy , mouthwatering recipe:) gotta have me some of that
[email protected] Meenal’s kitchen
Iam an eggplant lover,my hubby dont like it at all:)May be i can try and eat myself:)
Yummmm..Looks soo good..Im getting hungry now!
B’ful clicks 🙂
Me want 🙁
I LOVE brinjals. period! 🙂
Very pretty pic !!!
And you have a Malayali store there????
I can never find anything Mal in the Indian stores here. The closest I get to South Indian is Andhra pickle 🙁
Man, I am tempted with this.
I wonder how do you manage to take such awesome pictures & cook yummy recipes 🙂
Great job on food photography..
brainjal??!!!! me n my typos, aargggg!!!! u know what i meant!
oooh! nags! this i GOTTA try! i’ve heard so much of this dish! the prob is my folks don’t like brainjal at all 🙁 so i guess will be making this soley for my benefit! 😀
One of the very few ways I enjoy eggplant. The photographs are lovely.
Perfect click!!