Vangi Bhath (Eggplant Rice)

Blogging Marathon# 35: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: Bookmarked recipes
Dish: Vangi Bhath
Hope all of you had a good Christmas holiday. We had a blast with extended family visiting us. Kids had fun unwrapping their gifts, running around and playing. Adults had fun catching up with each other, cooking and eating. It was a day of eating and I think I ate food meant for at least 2 days :-) After all that cooking yesterday, I felt lazy to cook today, the day after Christmas and so wanted to make something quick and easy for lunch. I had some eggplants in the fridge and my mom recently made some bisi bele bhath masala powder in the pantry. I had this recipe jotted down in my diary and followed it to make our almost 1 pot lunch.
I already have a recipe for Vangi bhath here. This recipe is a little different with the addition of onion and has very few ingredients.  Ingredients: Rice - 3cups, cooked Onion - 1 medium, chopped Eggplants - 6~8 medium, cut into long pieces Bisi bele bhath powder - 3~4tbsp (homemade or store bought) Tamarind pulp - 2tbsp
Cashews - 2tbsp
Peanuts - 2tbsp Mustard seeds - 1tsp Asafoetida or hing - ¼tsp
Curry leaves - 8~10
Turmeric - ¼tsp
Jaggery - 1tbsp (optional) Salt - to taste
Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil, add cashews and peanuts; cook until golden. Remove into a bowl and set aside.
• Heat 2tbsp oil in a large saute pan; add mustard seeds and once the seeds start to splutter add hing and curry leaves. 
• Next add onions and cook until they turn translucent, about 3~4 minutes.
• Next add the chopped eggplant and turmeric; cover and cook till eggplants are tender, about 8~10 minutes.
• Add bisi bele bhath powder, tamarind pulp and jaggery (if using); mix well.
• Add cooked rice, salt and mix until well combined. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and let it rest for 10~15 minutes before serving.

Serve along with crunchy chips for a filling lunch. This is the last and final post for this year's Blogging Marathon. Thanks to Valli for being the master mind behind this monthly event without which I wouldn't have blogged as much as I did this year. Looking forward to another amazing year of BM next year.

Look at the hand sneaking in to get chips

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 35.