Bharela baigan - Ravaiya

Ravaiya - Bharela Baigan

We were in the US and had a cousin staying with us - she was on a vacation for a couple of months - and was taking turns visiting all her friends and relatives...there was a wedding in the family also - which she had come to attend ....and prior to that she spent some time with us...we had a great time sightseeing, of course shopping, going for walks - there was a lovely park next to a lake - which made for a good place to go to spend some time - walking around and just sitting next to the lake and chatting....

While she was there we spent quite some time cooking ofcourse - she is a very good cook ( very popular for her khandvi - which is excellent ) and I am not quite familiar with all the Gujrati dishes...so decided to learn a few under her tutelage. Did not attempt khandvi ( though she did make it whilst with us ) - found it quite difficult...but managed to pick up a few of the easier ( for me ) dishes. Maybe one day I may be more ambitious to try out khandvi too.... :-)

Anyways ....so one of them was bharela baigan -or as they call it ravaiya, she taught me do it with 2 stuffing's - one with besan, the other with green masala ...love both of them - and have made both quite a few times. While the besan stuffing is also good - somehow the one with coriander leaves and masala turns out much better ...it has a lovely moist filling - can be made as spicy as you would like...and the brinjal always tastes very nice when it is coated ( or filled ) with a spicy masala.
This is the one I made today and would like to share...


Ingredients :

8 - 10 small purple brinjals
2 medium potatoes
1 large onion
a bunch of coriander leaves chopped ( about 1&1/2 - 2 cups )
2-3 green chillies ( as per taste)
6-8 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 Tblspn  coriander-cumin powder
1 Tblspn sesame seeds
Salt to taste
Oil
a pinch of asafoetida or hing

Method :
1) Chop the coriander leaves, ginger, green chillies, garlic, into small pieces almost fine paste.
2) Add the dry masalas - turmeric, salt, red chilli, coriander-cumin, sesame seeds
3) Put a couple of tsps of oil ( any vegetable oil ) and mix the above mixture properly.
4) To prepare the veggies, cut the stalk of brinjals, make a slit on one side taking care not to reach the bottom - then turn the brinjal in the opposite bottom and make another slit perpendicular to the first - and again leaving a bit untouched at the bottom.
Similarly peel the potatoes and make slits, skin the onions and make just one slit ( not 2 ).
5) Put the stuffing into the veggies on both sides - the leftover stuffing should be retained for later.

To cook there are various options - you can choose the one that suits you....
1) Put a couple of tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan, add a pinch of hing, then put in the veggies, cover and cook - keep turning them after a few minutes each side till it is done.
2) Steam the above veggies in a steamer, and when done, take a pan with a little oil, put a pinch of hing, and stir the cooked veggies to light coat with the oil.
3) Take a pressure cooker / pressure pan - put a tablespoon of oil with hing then add the veggies in and pressure cook the veggies - just one whistle is normally enough ...in case you are cooking larger quantities - you may need to keep it a bit longer.

After the veggies are almost done - you can put in the remaining stuffing mixture around the veggies in the pan and let it cook for few more minutes...this gives sort of finishes off the dish.
Serve garnished with some coriander.

Enjoy !!!

It is such a simple dish but turns out so amazing - and a good addition to have when you have guests and would like a couple of  varieties to serve ( provided of course they like brinjals :-) and even if they do not they can have the potatoes or onions ), the veggies get the flavours of the stuffing while retaining it's shape...and the taste is just out of this world...thank you cousin S...for your recipe and for the enjoyable time we had with you.