Stuffed Eggplant Curry – Bharli Vangi
Vegan, sweet and sour stuffed eggplant curry from the Indian State of Maharashtra is a soulful recipe that can be enjoyed with rice and chapati.
Hello HTS Community
Today I am sharing one of my favorite recipes from Maharashtrian cuisine, Bharli Vangi, which literally means stuffed eggplants. Small eggplants are stuffed with a masala made with peanuts, sesame seeds and dry coconut along with onion, garlic and a few spices. These eggplants are then cooked in a curry made with the same paste to produce a delicious dish.
This eggplant curry recipe generally uses local variety of eggplants which are white and purple striped, along with a local masala called as ‘Goda masala‘. To substitute, use locally available small sized eggplants and garam masala instead of goda masala.
Indian is known for its curries and the variety of curries that the sub-continent has presented to the world. Some of the vegan and vegetarian recipes that you can try are South Indian Veg Kurma Curry, Methi Malai Matar, Raw Mango Curry, Matar Paneer and Carrot Curry.
Sweet and sour, eggplant curry gets its different flavor notes from the use of coconut, peanuts, tamarind and jaggery. It is best to cook the curry on low heat for about 30-40 minutes to let ingredients mix well.
| Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 40 minutes | Total time: 60 minutes |
Ingredients you will need:
- Peanuts- 1/4 cup
- Sesame seeds- 2 teaspoon
- Shredded coconut- 3 teaspoon
- Onion- 1/2 cup roughly chopped + 1/2 cup finely chopped
- Green chillies- 2
- Garlic- 2 cloves
- Ginger- 1 inch
- Coriander- handful, more for garnish
- Salt- to taste
- Red chili powder- 1/2 teaspoon
- Turmeric- 1/2 teaspoon
- Eggplants- 6 or 7, small ones
- Oil- 2 tablespoon
- Curry leaves- 6-7
- Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
- Tomato- 1/4 cup, chopped
- Tamarind concentrate- 1/2 teaspoon
- Jaggery- 1 teaspoon
- Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Steps to make Stuffed Eggplant Curry:
Step 1: Making the masala
- Start with dry roasting peanuts, followed by sesame seeds. Make sure to roast these items on low heat, and then switch off the heat and add shredded dry coconut, mix well and keep aside to cool down. This process should take less than 2 minutes.
- In a mixer grinder jar, add the above items with 1/2 cup roughly chopped onion, garlic, coriander, salt, red chili powder, turmeric and water, to make a thick coarse paste.
Step 2: Preparing eggplants
- Wash eggplants and remove the stem. Make cuts at the bottom as shown in the video to fill masala.
- Take a knife and fill masala within all eggplants and keep aside. The remaining masala will be used in the curry making process. To clean the grinder jar, I’ve put water in and the same will be used in curry.
Step 3: Making curry
- In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and finely chopped onions.
- Now add stuffed eggplants, a tablespoon of water, and cover the pan with a lid, and them cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining masala that we prepared earlier for eggplants with 1.5 cups of water. Mix masala with water and make sure there are no lumps sticking to the pan. Cover with lid and let this cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
- Adjust salt and then add chopped tomato to the curry. Let it cook for another 10 minutes.
- Taste the curry, add tamarind concentrate, jaggery and garam masala/goda masala and then garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice and chapati. If you so not have tamarind concentrate, you can use tamarind water or dry mango powder. To replace jaggery, just use a teaspoon of sugar in the curry.
