Vankaya Bhajji is an Andhra delicacy that is very simple to make. Pulusu, Bhajji is usually served in the lunch menu in many Telugu households. I tasted this Vankaya bhajji at a restaurant a few years back in Chicago. Though there was a lot of menu in the buffet, this one tasted very yummy. I saw the name of it as Vankaya Bhajji. It was very flavorful with the goodness of brinjal and mildly spiced. I had this recipe in the cookbook that has been with me for a long time. While I also had Brinjal after a grocery haul, I decided to include it in the lunch menu. We had this Vankaya Bhajji with hot rice and Ghee alongside some spicy Vazhaikkai / plantain poriyal. You can try this recipe and enjoy with hot rice and don’t forget that dollop of ghee to go along.
Ingredients
- Tempering Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash, remove the stalk and chop the brinjal into cubes. Pressure cook them for three whistles until they are soft. Soak the tamarind and extract juice from it.
- Heat a pan and add oil to it. Add mustard seeds and channa dal until golden brown. Sautee green chilli, curry leaves and chopped onions until transparent.
- Add the extracted tamarind juice. Once it begins to boil, add turmeric powder, red chili powder. Let it boil until the raw smell goes off.
- Once the raw smell goes off, add the mashed brinjal, and combine it. Let it boil, add required salt to taste and asafoetida powder. Let it cook for 2 - 3 mins until the Vankaya Bhajji thickens. Serve with hot rice and a dollop of Ghee.
Notes
- This Vankaya bhajji tastes great with regular small-sized brinjals. You can also try replacing it with big brinjal. Just make sure to cubed them to small cubes and pressure cook until soft.
- Replace small onions with regular onions to make it much tastier.