Bharli- Wangi, Bharwa Baingan or Stuffed baby Eggplants

Today I present one of the most common yet appealing dishes that are part of vegetarian meal served to guests in a Maharashtriyan family. The “Bharwa Baingan” or a “Tiny eggplants (Baingan) stuffed with a delicious, spicy masala”. We may find variations of the same in different parts of India. There are famous recipes of “Stuffed Baingan” from South India, west Bengal, North India, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat varying with their typical flavors, ingredients and oils used.

     My husband is from Bihar. They have a tradition that a newly married bride starts her kitchen activity by making a “Fish-curry”. The close relatives at home gathered for the marriage, taste the “Fish-curry” and kind of “certify” the bride. My in-laws were bit nervous as they had to defend me before their relatives as I was a vegetarian. Then my husband advised me to prepare this recipe for the formality. I am pleased to state that it was a successful venture for around 25 people and since then the recipe is being enjoyed as a substitute for “Fish-curry” for vegetarian meal. Although this was a situation 20 years back. Now a days everything is modernized.

     While exploring the literature about the eggplant (Baingan) I happened to come across a few funny fascinating facts:

Baingans fall in the category of “berries” and aren’t REALLY vegetables. Similar to tomatoes, Baingans are commonly mistaken for vegetables.

Japanese even have a proverb about baingans / eggplant: 
“The happiest omen for a New Year is first Mount Fuji, then the falcon, and lastly eggplant”.

 Sounds interesting isn’t it?

Bharli- Wangi, Bharwa Baingan or Stuffed baby Eggplants
Ingredients	1.     Small size wangi/Baingan/baby egg-plants  (250 grams)
	2.     Grated dry coconut (grated)- approximately 1 small bowl
	3.     Powdered roasted peanuts approximately 1/2 small bowl
	4.     Roasted sesame seeds (Til) 1 tea spoon
	5.     fresh curry leaves approximately 7-8
	6.     Garlic buds (7-8)
	7.     Ginger (Adrak)- 1 small piece
	8.   Garam masala- 2 tea spoon, Red pepper powder- 2 tea spoons, Haldi- 1 tea spoon and salt to taste.
Cooking time	15-20 minutes
Steps	1.	Clean the wangi/Baingan/baby egg-plants by removing thorns. Give two cuts (length-wise). Keep in water added with two pinches of salt for 15 minutes. Drain the water after 15 minutes.
	2.	Grind roasted coconut, roasted powdered peanuts with all ingredients to a fine paste.
	3.	Stuff the grinded “masala” inside all the wangi/Baingan/baby egg-plants  .
	4.	Pour oil to a pressure pan. After “Tadka”, shallow fry all wangi/Baingan/baby egg-plants  by covering the pan with lead. Let the brinjals be sufficiently steamed.
	5.	Add around 200 ml water and pressure cook.
	6.	Don’t overcook it. Just remove the pressure within 5 minutes to avoid overcooking. Just make sure that baingans remain in shape with sufficient softness.
	7.	Garnish with fresh cut coriander leaves before serving.
Tips	1.	Putting wangi/Baingan/baby egg-plants in salty water can overcome the problem of itching that some people suffer by consuming them.
	2.	Add hot water to fried “stuffed bainganss” to enhance the taste.
	3.	Add Masala, Red pepper and Haldi while grinding the paste, but while making TADKA, do add the same in hot oil. It gives a great “Chatka” to gravy.