Stuffed eggplant or Bharli Vangi

I am not sure, whether it is Malvani, Goan or konkani recipe. I first saw this recipe on a wonderful food blog. When I first made stuffed eggplant, I followed that recipe step by step. But I felt, I could make it in a different way. So in the second turn, I wanted change the recipe. Here goes my recipe below.

For this dish I used few dark purple colored baby eggplants. You can cook with big size eggplants as well. The spices used in the recipe, need to be coated on to each eggplants, and the taste would be the same, no matter what size of eggplants you are using.

Ingredients:

8 baby eggplants

1/2 cup of grated coconut

1/2 cup roasted and ground peanuts

1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste

2 large onion (chopped)

1 medium size chopped tomato (optional, I used)

1 tsp of each powder (turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, coriander powder)

2 tbsp mustard oil

Water

Salt

Method:

1. As the recipe name suggests, I hope you are done with slitting the eggplants. If not, slit them on 4 sides, but DON'T break them.

2. Take water and little bit salt in a bowl to soak them in salted water. After that keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.

3. You are ready with dry-roasted peanuts, right? Now roast grated coconut. Roast them till the color is becoming brown. DON'T roast peanuts and coconut together. Now set them aside separately for cooling down.

4. Take half of the chopped onion and garlic-ginger paste in the bowl of mixer grinder. Now check if the roasted coconut and peanut got cool or not. If them become cool, take them to the same bowl. And grind it to a smooth paste. If you need, you can add little water. But DON'T make it liquid.

5. Heat oil in your frying pan. Then add few amount of chopped onion to the hot oil. Keep frying them until they become transparent.

6. Add garam masala and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add all other powders mentioned in the ingredients list and add tomato this time. Mix them well and cook for few minutes. Then remove from the heat and set aside for cooling down.

7. Now add half of the coconut-peanut paste to the paste mentioned in step no. 6.

8. Combine them well and stuff the mixture between eggplant. Did you find, the mixture is escaping from the eggplant? Don't worry; tie each eggplant back together with cotton thread.

9. Heat oil in the same frying pan. Add rest of the onion and fry it until light-brown. Add the eggplants to the pan carefully. Remove the cotton thread. And cover the pan with a lid.

10. Leave to cook for few minutes (10-15 minutes). But you have to turn them occasionally until cooked.

11. Serve the hot stuffed eggplants with roti or parantha.  

For other eggplant recipes click here.