Bharli Vangi (Stuffed Eggplants)
Marathi-style Bharli Vangi is a much-loved delicacy in western India. Small, round eggplants are stuffed with a spicy coconut-peanut mixture. Serve with rice and dal for the perfect Indian meal.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 265kcal
Ingredients
- 8 small Indian eggplants (Leave the stems on and make a vertical slit with a sharp knife from the top of the eggplant almost all the way, but not quite, to the stem end. You want the eggplant to remain in one piece. Now turn the eggplant and make another similar cut at a right angle so the eggplant looks like a closed flower bud with four petals.)
- 4 yellow potatoes (ut into wedges)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
For the stuffing masala
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ½ cup raw peanuts
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 2 red chili peppers (stems removed and broken into small pieces)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ¼ cup jaggery (can substitute sugar)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the masala ingredients by heating the oil. Add peanuts, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chili peppers to the pan and saute until the peanuts are a couple of shades darker.
- Place the ingredients in a blender, add the ginger garlic paste, jaggery, turmeric and coconut milk and process into a coarse paste. It should clump together when you press it in your fist, which will make stuffing the eggplants easier.
- Divide the stuffing equally into eight portions and stuff between the petals of each eggplant. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat.
- Add the potatoes and stir-fry for a couple of minutes or until they start to color slightly.
- Add the eggplants one by one-- place them in a single layer, if possible.
- Add ¾ cup of water to the pressure cooker and sprinkle on some salt for taste (not too much, because there's already salt in the stuffing, but you want a little something for the potatoes).
- Stir the contents of the pressure cooker gently so everything looks well-distributed.
- Click on the pressure cooker lid. My pressure cooker is different from the typical Indian ones that come with a "whistle" that goes off when it reaches pressure. It has a little button that pops up when the cooker reaches pressure. Once it did, I lowered the heat let the eggplant cook for another 10 minutes. If you have the cooker with the whistle, you might need to go through a couple more whistles to get the same result.
- Once the steam inside the pressure cooker has dissipated, open the pressure cooker and garnish the eggplant, if you like, with some coriander.
- Serve hot with dal.
Nutrition
Serving: 2eggplants | Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 447mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 33IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg