Karnataka style vangi bath is a spiced rice dish made with brinjals or eggplants and spice powder. Vangi bath is served without any accompaniment. Plain yogurt, some papads will complement the meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw rice (/uncooked rice)
  • 3 tablespoons Oil (or as needed)
  • 1 small onion (thinly sliced (optional))
  • 1 green chili (slit or red chili)
  • 250 grams brinjals ((eggplants, green or purple))
  • ½ cup green peas (frozen or fresh boiled) (or ¼ cup roasted peanuts)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons Lemon juice (or 1 tbsp tamarind paste or tamarind soaked in water, as needed)
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • 1 sprig curry leaves (or 1 bay leaf)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds (or 3 green cardamoms)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ((jeera, optional))
  • 1 tablespoon chana dal ((optional))
  • ½ tablespoon urad dal ((optional))
  • 4 to 5 red chilies
  • 2 tablespoon Coriander seeds ((daniya))
  • 1 tablespoon channa dal ((bengal gram))
  • ½ tablespoon urad dal ((skinned black gram))
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds ((jeera))
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon methi seeds ((fenugreek seeds, optional))
  • 4 cloves ((laung))
  • 1 small cinnamon stick ((dalchini))
  • 1 tablespoon Dry coconut ((copra, optional, adds flavor and taste))

Method

Cook Rice

  1. Add rice to a pot or cooker. Wash it well at least thrice and pour water.
  2. Cover and pressure cook for 2 whistles. If using basmati rice then just cook for 1 whistle. (refer notes for details) Do not make the rice mushy. Fluff up the rice and cool this completely.

Make vangi bath powder - Skip if you have powder ready

  1. Dry roast coriander seeds until crunchy and aromatic. Transfer them to a plate.
  2. On a medium to low heat, toast chana dal, urad dal and red chilies until the dal turns golden & aromatic. Lastly add methi, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon. Saute till the methi seeds turn aromatic.
  3. Cool all these completely. Powder them finely in a mixer or grinder.

How to Make Vangi Bath

  1. Add ¼ tsp salt to a bowl of water. Wash brinjals, chop & discard the crowns. Dice them and add to the salted water.
  2. Pour oil to a hot pan. Add in mustard, cumin, chana dal and urad dal.
  3. Fry them until the lentils turn golden. Add the curry leaves, green chilies and onions. Saute till they turn golden or transparent.
  4. Add chopped brinjal, green peas if using and sprinkle salt, turmeric. Fry them for 2 to 3 minutes stirring often. Cook covered on a low to medium heat until fork tender. If the pan is too dry, add a splash of water.
  5. Add vangi bath powder and saute till it begins to smell good. Stir in the tamarind and a few tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry. Cook for 1 minute and turn off.
  6. Add the cooled rice and squeeze in some lemon juice (if not using tamarind). Mix well to coat the rice with vangi bath masala. Taste test and adjust salt or lemon juice to preference.
  7. Garnish with roasted peanuts if you want. Serve vangi bath hot with some papads and yogurt.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.