<u>poruLgaL (Ingredients) </u>
* Kathirikkaay (egg plant/brinjal) - 1 big (US size) or 5 small
* Onion - 1
* Potato - 1
* Tomato - 2
* kodai miLagaay - 1
* Green Chilly - 5
* Red Chilly - 8
* dhaniyaa - 10 tbl spoons
* kadalai paruppu (split peas) - 5 tbl spoons
* Coconut - 4 paththai
* Cashews - 15
* KarivEppilai
* koththamalli
* perungaayam
* kadugu, uLuththamparuppu, kadalai paruppu (thaaLikka)
* & Rice

<u>sey muRai (Process) </u>
To make the vaangi masaala powder
* Fry dhaniyaa (10 sp), kadalai paruppu (5 sp), red chilly (8) and Coconut (cut into small pieces) in a pan without oil till it
becomes golden/read (dry fry)
* In mixie, grind it to make a powder (without adding water)

* Cut all vegetables (kathirikkaay, onion, potato, tomato, kodai miLagaay) into small pieces
* In a big pan, add 10 tbl spoons of oil
* When it is hot, add kadugu, uLuththam paruppu & kadalai paruppu. The quantities should be more than the usual
'thaaLiththu kottum aLavu', so that the paruppu & kadugu are visible and can be felt in the final product.
* Add perungaayam, cut green chilly & karivEppilai
* Once the paruppu turns golden color, add the cut vegetables and fry (without adding water) for a while
* When the vegetables are half cooked, add salt & manjaL podi
* Fry till the vegetables are cooked (should be 'well done'/well fried)
* Add the vaangi Powder prepared in the previous step to the fried vegetables.
* Add more oil/ghee and fry for 2 more minutes

* Cook rice separately in a rice/electric cooker with less than usual water (saadham konjam udhiriyaaga pola pola vendru
irundhaal nalladhu)

* Mix rice and VaangiBhathMix (adding ghee if required)
* Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves (kothamalli/cilantro) and Cashew nuts fried in ghee


The best side dish for "Vaangi Bhath" are appaLam/karuvadaam & thayir pachadi.

Recipe for a quick <u>Pachchadi</u> :
* (Very) Finely chop Carret, Beetroot, or Cucumber (one of them)
* In a pan heat oil and add kadugu
* Add finely chopped green chilly, ginger, & perungaayam
* Add the vegetable to it and fry it little bit (20 seconds).
* Turn the gas off
* Add sufficient thayir (curd) to it and add salt.
* Thayir pachadi is ready to be eaten with Vaangi Bhath

Try it out let me know if you like it...

- Venky Narayanan
VenkyNarayanan@hotmail.com