Poorni's Cookbook: 03/14/16

Monday, March 14, 2016

Bharli vangi/ Stuffed brinjal curry/ Bharleli Vangi/ Bharva Baingan ~~Maharashtrian recipes

A delicious, authentic Maharashtrian curry dish of stuffed brinjals with a combination of spices, peanuts, sesame and coconut, Bharli Vangi is a great accompaniment for the delectable Jwarichi Bhakri or Jowar roti.

This post is a part of Culinary hoppers blog hop for the month of March. Being hubby's favorite, Jowar roti and Bharli vangi became my obvious choice. Also, I have taken the recipe from MAHARASHTRIAN RECIPES ONLINE. I have never liked brinjals and eggplants much, yet this dish is an exception. This spicy curry leaves you wanting for more and makes you love those brinjals just a little bit more. After preparing Bharli Vangi, even though I got a thumbs up from my DH, I was doubtful since this is the first time I made a dish with brinjals and was surprised with the taste of this dish. A burst of so many flavors, softness of the coconut-sesame mixture, flavor of peanuts, crunch from brinjals, a spicy blast of chilli and aroma of those spices makes this dish an amazing and exotic dish.

The brinjals stuffed with the masala absorbs all the flavors and gives a beautiful crunch to your mouthful. This curry is usually an accompaniment for Jowar Roti or white rice and Dal. The consistency of this curry also differs as per one's liking. We love curries a little thin so what I have prepared here is quite thin in consistency.

Also, to cook this dish, you will need Maharashtrain Kanda lasun Masala and Goda Masala though some people add only Goda Masala. Sometimes, cooked potatoes are also added to the curry. Since the chilli powder is also added with Maharashtrain Kanda lasun Masala and Goda Masala, the dish is very spicy but you can play with the quantity of these masalas to get the spiciness you would prefer. Also, you can add coconut that is fresh or dry but they say the dry one will taste much better.

The ingredients required to make this dish are few and you can prepare it in not more than 30 minutes yet tastes fabulous when served with rotis.

Nutritional Information (Approx) (per serving)

Energy	132	Calories
Fat	10.3	%
Carbohydrates	9	%
Dietary Fiber	3.4	%
Sodium	5.3	mg
Vitamin A	3.1	%
Vitamin C	6.1	%
Calcium	3.6	%
Iron	5	%
Protein	3.7	Grams
Sugar	0.6	Grams

Ingredients

Sesame seeds	2 tablespoons
Garlic pods	4
Dry coconut	2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds	2 teaspoons + 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	a handful
Brinjals (small)	4 to 5
Oil	2 tablespoons divided
Onion	1 large
Tomato	1 large
Kanda lasun Masala	1 teaspoon
Goda Masala	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Roasted peanut powder	1/2 cup
Jaggery grated	1 teaspoon
Water	as needed

Grind together Sesame seeds, dry coconut, coriander leaves, cumin seeds and garlic to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.
Once it starts to splutter, add chopped onions. Fry till they get translucent. Add tomatoes and cook till it turns soft and mushy.

Add the ground mixture and mix well. Let it cook till the raw smell goes away completely.
Add Goda Masala, jaggery and Kanda lasun Masala and cook for 2 minutes. Then add turmeric powder, peanut powder and salt. Mix, let it cook for 2 more minutes and remove from flame.

Wash and pat dry the brinjals. Remove the stem and not the green part. then slit them as shown in the picture 1.
Stuff the slit brinjals with the mixture. Make sure you open every slit and stuff the filling.
Add 2 cups of water or as per your requirement to the remaining stuffing and bring it to boil.

In a different Kadai, heat oil and add some cumin seeds. You can also add hing. Once the cumin seeds starts to slutter, place the stuffed brinjals carefully and fry till the skin of brinjals look soft.
Add the boiling water-stuffing mixture and check for seasoning. Cook it covered till brinjals are completely cooked.Serve hot with Rotis or Rice+Dal.

* Since the consistency of my curry is thin, I have directly added water to the left over stuffing. If you want thick and dry curry, fry the leftover stuffing till they leave out oil and then add brinjals.
* Adding cumin the second time is optional. Also, you can add hing which will give a nice aroma and taste.
* You can increase or decrease the proportion of coconut, sesame seeds and peanut powder as per your taste and liking consistency.

Do check these amazing posts of Maharashtrian dishes from my fellow Culinary hoppers:

Shubha's

http://www.shubhaskitchen.com/2016/03/bhajaniche-thalipeeth-spiced-multigrain.html

http://www.shubhaskitchen.com/2016/03/kulith-pithale-kulith-pitla-horsegram.html

http://www.shubhaskitchen.com/2016/03/piyush.html

Vani's

http://marudhuskitchen.com/www/recipe-batata-wada-maharashtrianvadaaloo-bonda/

Anu's

http://easybitesonline.com/shengdanyachi-amti-recipe-peanut-stew-maharashritain-cuisine/

http://easybitesonline.com/varaicha-bhat-recipe-singlepot-varai-sama-barnyard-millet-rice/

Piyali's

http://mytrystwithfoodandtravel.blogspot.in/2016/03/zunka-bhakar-recipe-jhunka-recipe-bajra.html

http://mytrystwithfoodandtravel.blogspot.in/2016/03/matki-chi-usal-recipe-moth-bean-sprouts.html

Jayashree's

http://www.evergreendishes.com/2016/03/16/kothimbir-vadi/

http://www.evergreendishes.com/2016/03/15/mumbai-pav-bhaji/

Swathi's

http://www.letscookhealthytonight.com/maharashtrian-green-peas-curry/

http://www.letscookhealthytonight.com/tomato-rice/

Shobana's

http://shobasdelight.blogspot.in/2016/03/kolhapuri-thecha-lal-mirch-thecha.html

Parvathy's

http://crackleandtemper.ca/recipe/sol-kadhi-kokum-kadhi-blog-hop-with-culinary-hoppers-maharashtrian-theme/

Padma's

http://www.masalakorb.com/maharashtrian-bhakarwadi-recipe-holi-recipes/

http://www.masalakorb.com/sabudana-vada-recipe-low-oil-sago-vada/%EF%BB%BF

Jwarichi Bhakri/ Jolada rotti/ Jowar ki roti ~~Maharashtrian recipes

Jowar roti also called as Jwarichi bhakri in Maharashtra and Jolada rotti in Karnataka is a humble, authentic, healthy and gluten-free flat bread made of Sorghum/Jowar flour.

Making this roti in large quantity requires skill, energy and patience. These rotis are a part of regular meal in North Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and they pat the rotis with their hands. Nalini aunty, our neighbor in mom's place is from Dharwad and they make and sell homemade Bhakris. She prepares the rotis with such grace and ease that it is a pleasant sight to watch her pat perfect round rotis in minutes. I have acquired this recipe from her and it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. All my rotis puffed up beautifully and tasted perfect with Bharli Vangi(Stuffed brinjal), thanks to her.

This post is a part of Culinary Hoppers blog hop for the month of March and theme is Maharashtrian dishes. Since hot Jowar Bhakris and Bharli vangi (stuffed eggplant curry) are my DH's favorite, I chose these dishes. The traditional way of making Jowar Bhakris/Jwarichi bhakri is cooking the flour with salt in boiling water and patting them with hands into rotis once cooled down. I found the recipe I got from aunty is way easier than the traditional way. Also, I learnt the patting technique from the video in madhurasrecipe.com

Jowar contains no gluten and it is very hard to get rotis without breaking while making them for the first time. I had more than few failures before and was able to make rotis once I learnt how to roll them without breaking. The rice flour has been added to the dough to bind the mixture. You can skip it if you wish but it really helps if you are trying Jwarichi bhakri for the first time.

Nutritional Information (Approx) (per serving)

Energy	138	Calories
Fat	1.1	%
Carbohydrates	29	%
Dietary Fiber	3.1	%
Sodium	0.1	mg
Vitamin A	0	%
Vitamin C	0	%
Calcium	0	%
Iron	8.1	%
Protein	4.3	Grams
Sugar	0	Grams

Ingredients

Jowar flour / Sorghum flour	2 cups + more
Rice flour	2 tablespoons
Salt	1/2 teaspoon
Water	as needed

Boil some water in a pot. Mix Jowar/Sorghum flour, rice flour and salt.
Add the boiling water little by little and mix the dry ingredients with a spoon. Once the dough seems moist enough, knead the dough with your hands.
If the dough is too hot, let it cool to the temperature that you can handle. If you the dough seems too damp, add a little more flour and knead.

Knead the dough for about 6-7 minutes till the surface of the dough looks smooth and is not sticky anymore.
If you are making the bhakris right away, divide the dough into small parts and roll them to a round ball.
Dust the surface with some flour where you are going to tap the dough. Take a ball of dough, flatten it with your palms.

Place the flattened dough on the dusted surface and start patting with your right palm and try to fix the cracked sides with the left. It feels a little difficult at first but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.
Heat a tawa or dosa pan, place the patted dough on the pan (tapped side down).
Let it cook for a minute while you pat the roti with a rounded wet cloth so that the roti cooks well and doesn't turn dry.

Flip the roti and cook for another minute. Place the roti directly on the stove flame, make sure the flame is medium-high. If there are no cracks, the roti will puff up beautifully.
Serve hot with a curry/gravy, a raw onion and some fried green chillis.

* Adding boiling water is a must. You can let the dough cool to warn before kneading the dough.
* You can increase the flame to high and cook the roti on tawa itself if you are making rotis on electric stove. They will still puff up.