Stuffed Brinjal Fry Recipe |Gutti Vankaya Fry Recipe
Stuffed Brinjal Fry – is a popular brinjal recipe made by stuffing tender brinjals of medium size with a a special aromatic and nutty masala prepared with peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut, red chillies and coriander seeds.
It is also known as Gutti Vankaya fry in Telugu cuisine. I don’t know if you know but Telugu people in india love their brinjals. And stuffed brinjal fry is one of the favorites among them and eaten with plain rice or pappu ( Dal Rice), SAMBAR SADHAM or even with rasam it tastes divine.
It has always been a favorite vegetable in our home too and I am so excited as I type this because there are so many yummy family recipes I have to share with you all.
What is Gutti Vankaya?
There are similar recipes in india which are very close to Gutti Vankaya of Andhra, like Ennai Kathirikai Fry of Tamil Nadu, Bharwa bhaingan from Maharashtra all basically means stuffed brinjal.
Gutti means – “A bunch” in Telugu (I did my re-search ;)) and Vankaya means brinjal (This I knew 😉 )
Ingredients for masala stuffing
- Peanuts
- White Sesame seeds
- Corriander seeds
- Dry red chillies
- Garlic
- Channa dal
- Tamarind juice
- Salt
- Turmeric
- Coconut
- Urad dal
Prep work before you begin
Start by preparing the brinjals, slit them open as shown in the picture above and leave it in salted water, to prevent it from browning.
Keep all the frying ingredients ready so you don’t look for an ingredient once you start roasting.
Tips
Although this is a pretty straight forward recipe, there are a few tips I would like to leave for the readers,
- Choose small to medium sized brinjals for this recipe. If one cannot find it, the thinner longer varieties of brinjals do work, but definitely not the large eggplants.
- Use tamarind – Tamarind adds a nice tangy taste to the final dish, which makes it totally irressitable !!!
- Leave the stem on – Its common to cut off the stems as a habit while preparing the vegetables. How ever take it slow here, we need the stems to hold the stuffing inside.
- If your brinjal is a bit older and is harder then add a sprinkle of Water to help cook the brinjal.
Variations to the recipe
Some time even I make a small tweet to the recipe by adding 1/2 a medium onion while frying the spices and grind it together. It make the brinjals a bit more creamier and softer. For basic recipe I would stick to this one.
Also check out GUTTI VANKAYA CURRY for a gravy version of the recipe.
HOW TO MAKE STUFFED BRINJAL FRY (step by step)
To prepare Masala Stuffing
- Heat a wide pan, add 1-2 tbsp oil to it and add channa dal, urad dal, peanuts, coriander seeds, garlic pods, dry red chillies and saute in medium heat until its nicely toasted.
- Next add the grated coconut and the sesame seeds and saute until its slightly roasted too.
Transfer the roasted ingredients to a blender allow it to cool and then add salt as required, turmeric powder .
Add tamarind water and blend it to a semi coarse powder.
Prepare Brinjal & Stuffing
- Meanwhile, Slit the brinjal as shown in the picture making a flower like opening. Leaving the stem in.
- Add the slit brinjal in salted water until use, to prevent it from turning brown.
- Take a spoon full of ground masala and stuff it in the brinjal slits generously. If spoon is difficult use your fingers.
- Repeat the process until all the brinjals are stuffed. There may be some extra masala keep it for later.
Fry the brinjals
- Heat a wide pan with a lid, add the remaining of the oil. Once hot, add the stuffed brinjals one after the other. Cover it with a lid and cook it in medium flame for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes gently move the brinjals over to cook it evenly on all side.
- You’ll notice that the brinjals will start changed colour and also soften.
- Once it is soft enough, it will be time to add the remaining masala on top,
- Cover and cook for some more time until the brinjals are cooked tender and masalas are nice and aromatic and toasty.
- Serve it hot with dal rice, sambar sadham, rasam rice or curd rice.
Also check out other similar recipes
Stuffed Brinjal Fry (Gutti Vankaya Fry)
Ingredients
- 6-8 no.s no.s Small sized brinjals
- 10 tbsp Oil to fry
- 3 tsp Channa dal
- 2 tsp White sesame seeds
- 3 tsp Urad dal
- 3 tbsp Peanuts
- 2-3 Garlic pods (large)
- 3 tsp Grated Coconut
- 2 tbsp Corriander Seeds
- 7 Dry red chillies
- 3 tbsp Tamarind Water (Thin)
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt (To taste)
Instructions
To prepare Masala Stuffing
- Heat a wide pan, add 1-2 tbsp oil to it and add channa dal, urad dal, peanuts, coriander seeds, garlic pods, dry red chillies and saute in medium heat until its nicely toasted.
- Next add the grated coconut and the sesame seeds and saute until its slightly roasted too.
- Transfer the roasted ingredients to a blender allow it to cool and then add salt as required, turmeric powder and tamarind water and blend it to a semi coarse powder.
Prepare Brinjal & Stuffing
- Meanwhile, Slit the brinjal as shown in the picture making a flower like opening. Leaving the stem in.
- Add the slit brinjal in salted water until use, to prevent it from turning brown.
- Take a spoon full of ground masala and stuff it in the brinjal slits generously. If spoon is difficult use your fingers.
- Repeat the process until all the brinjals are stuffed. There may be some extra masala keep it for later.
Fry the brinjals
- Heat a wide pan with a lid, add the remaining of the oil. Once hot, add the stuffed brinjals one after the other. Cover it with a lid and cook it in medium flame for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes gently move the brinjals over to cook it evenly on all side.
- You’ll notice that the brinjals will start changed colour and also soften.
- Once it is soft enough, it will be time to add the remaining masala on top, cover and cook for some more time until the brinjals are cooked tender and masalas are nice and aromatic and toasty.
- Serve it hot with dal rice, sambar sadham, rasam rice or curd rice.