Vangi Bath | Brinjal Rice | Eggplant Rice

Brinjal rice or Vangi Bath is a delicious and easy to make Vegan Rice recipe made with freshly ground aromatic spices. This Eggplant rice is a great recipe to pack for lunch boxes or to enjoy as dinner.

Eggplant / Brinjal happens to be one other vegetable that we all love at our house. That also means that we have planted plenty of eggplant plants in our garden and they have been giving us a lot of yield.

Baingan Bharta is our ever favorite subzi with eggplant where we use the large eggplant and roast it to make the curry. Other than kathirikkai / eggplant curry, the most often made dish at home is the Vangi Bhath or Kathirikkai Sadham.

Why Make this dish

I love making one pot / one pan meals for dinner. This Brinjal rice recipe is the best example. Once I have the freshly ground spice powder ready, the rest of the recipe is a breeze.

With eggplants growing like wild in the garden, this is again a great recipe to make use of them. I have made this recipe using the big eggplant, small eggplant and the long ones. Anything works in the recipe.

This is a great recipe for lunch box. My boys love to take it for school as it is very filling and flavorful and not to mention, easy to eat.

What to serve with Vangi Bath

I usually make a simple raita with any kind of masala rice like this Vangi Bath. I like making cucumber raita or tomato raita in particular.

We can serve it with chips or appalam / papad as well.

This Vangi Bhath does not necessarily need any side as it is flavorful just by itself. My boys eat it as is when they take it in their lunch boxes.

Ingredients Needed

I am going to split the ingredients into two different sections. We need to make a spice powder for the Vangi Bhath and then use that powder along with other ingredients to make the rice.

For the Homemade spice powder

Lentils - We need Chana dal / kadalai paruppu and Urad dal / Ullutham Paruppu for the recipe.

Whole spices - We need red chilies, fenugreek seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Adjust the red chilies based on your spice level.

Apart from this we need sesame seeds and desiccated coconut. If desiccated coconut is unavailable, you can use freshly grated coconut instead.

For the Brinjal / Eggplant Rice

Eggplant / Brinjal - We can use any kind of eggplant to make this recipe. I like the thin long kind in particular as they are seedless and very tender.

Rice - We can either use Basmati rice or Sona masoori rice. I make this most of the time with sona masoori rice. Adjust the water level based on whatever rice you are using.

Peanuts - I love using roasted peanuts in my Vangi bhath recipe. I crush my peanuts a bit and use it. You could use them whole or omit them if preferred.

Tamarind - Tamarind add a bit of tangy flavor to the brinjal rice. I use whole tamarind soaked in about ½ cup of hot water. We could also use tamarind extract.

Seasoning - We will be using mustard seeds, turmeric powder, asafetida, green chilies and curry leaves for seasoning.

Step by step process

Make the homemade spice powder

Dry roast all the ingredients individually, that is mentioned for the spice powder. (1)

Let the roasted ingredients cool down to room temperature and then grind them together into a coarse powder. (2)

To make the Vangi Bath

Cook the rice and let it cool down. Hint - Adding a teaspoon of oil in the rice helps to keep the grains separate.

Heat a wide pan and add about 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the seasoning ingredients and let it fry for about 30 seconds. Also add the peanuts along with seasonings. (1)

Now add the chopped eggplant, turmeric powder and salt and fry it for about 4-5 minutes in medium flame. Make sure that the eggplants do not get mushy. (2)

Next add the ground masala powder along with the tamarind extract. Cook it covered for about 5-6 minutes until the eggplants are well cooked but still remain intact. (3 & 4)

Add the cooked rice to the eggplant mixture and gently mix to coat (5). Let it cook for about 2 more minutes (6). Check for seasoning and adjust salt if needed.

Serve warm.

Expert tips and FAQ's

• Keep the chopped eggplants immersed in water until ready to use. This helps in retaining the color of the eggplant without turning them brown.
• Dry roast the ingredients needed for the spice powder individually.
• You can make a double or triple batch of the spice powder and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer to use for later.
• Cook and cool the rice before using it in the recipe. This is a great recipe to make with leftover rice.

More recipes to make with Eggplant

Baingan Bharta - Roasted Eggplants with spices brings out the wonderful flavor of Baingan Bharta. Serve with roti, Paratha or rice and enjoy this Punjabi delight subzi.

Eggplant Curry with spice powder - A delicious South Indian recipe for eggplant curry made with freshly ground spice powder to highlight the flavor of the recipe.

Dahi Baingana / Fried eggplant in Yogurt sauce - A delicious and simple side dish made with fried eggplants that is added to a yogurt sauce. This Dahi Baingana recipe uses Panch phoran, which is an aromatic blend of five different spice which is very popular in North East cuisine of India.

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