Bharali Vaangi (भरली वांगी) (Maharashtrian style stuffed eggplants)

Here is an easy-to-make yet delicious, recipe of a special maharashtrian dish. This is a staple dish back in my hometown where we get a really flavorful variety of eggplants known as “Krishna kathachi vangi” (Eggplants grown on banks of Krishna river). Sometimes I love to use the frozen small brinjals that we get in Indian grocery shops. I find them really close to the ones we get back home. I have used goda masala here which is the traditional maharashtrian masala, but you can substitute it with garam masala.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• Vangi/Brinjal/Eggplants - 5-6 medium size
• Onion - 1 small onion finely chopped
• Garlic - 3-4 small cloves of garlic finely chopped/grated
• Roasted peanuts ground coarsely - ¼ cup
• Fresh coconut - ¼ cup
• Fresh coriander finely chopped
• Goda masala - 1 tbsp (If you don’t have it, you can substitute with garam masala)
• Jaggery - 2 tsp 
• Chili powder - 1 tbsp (use more or less according to taste)
• Salt to taste

Recipe

• Wash and slit brinjals into 4 parts without breaking them apart.
• Put them in the water until your masala is ready to stuff them.
• Now mix onions, garlic, peanut powder, fresh coconut with jaggery, chilli powder and salt.
• Mix the masala really well. You can taste it and adjust the spice and salt accordingly before stuffing eggplants.
• Now stuff the eggplants with prepared masala.
• In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil and make the tadaka with mustard seeds. 
• Add hing and turmeric once mustard seeds start crackling.
• Now add stuffed eggplants and stir them for a minute or two.
• Now add remaining masala to it and mix it with eggplants.
• Add little water, just enough to cook the brinjals.
• Cover it with a lid and cook on low flame until brinjals are cooked.
• Garnish with coriander and fresh coconut and serve hot with roti or bhakri.

Note
If you are using frozen eggplants like I said before, then simply mix those eggplant with masala and add everything into tadaka.
Add a tsp of byadagi chili powder or kashimiri chili powder in the tadka for reddish color gravy