Vankaya pachadi recipe | brinjal chutney

Vankaya pachadi – spicy brinjal chutney made with eggplants, spices & herbs. Vankaya pachadi is one of the most commonly made condiment from Andhra cuisine. It is usually eaten with rice & ghee or phulka (chapati). We Telugu speaking people make a lot of chutney varieties for our meal. Infact our traditional meal is incomplete without a chutney, most commonly known as pachadi.

We make many kinds of chutneys with veggies and consider them to be healthy to include in every meal. Brinjal chutney is made in most households and each one has their own way of making it. Traditionally it was made with charcoal grilled eggplants, similar to the North Indian baingan bharta.

It was just mashed and seasoned with crushed green chillies and other ingredients like cumin, tamarind and salt. In the modern days since it is not possible for us to grill them on char coal, the brinjals are chopped and sauteed in a pan until tender.

Then they are crushed in a mixer or hand pestle along with other ingredients. As I mentioned there are different ways to make the brinjal chutney. For now Iam sharing the most basic version made with brinjal, tomatoes, garlic, chilies etc.

To start with I saute the chopped eggplants in oil until tender and followed by the tomatoes . Both together are crushed and then tempered.

It tastes hot, tangy and delicious. It is best served immediately with hot rice & ghee.

I will also update the recipe to make the charcoal grilled vanakaya pachadi soon.

Step-by-step photos

How to make brinjal chutney

1. Wash and cut brinjal to cube sizes. Add them to a bowl of salted water to prevent discoloring. Slit and fry chilies in oil. Set aside. You can also fry 1 tsp channa dal and 1.5 tsp urad dal until they turn golden. These are optional but give a nutty taste.

2. Add brinjal and sprinkle salt.

3. Fry until they wilt off and get cooked. You can also cover and cook until tender.

4. Set aside the eggplants to a plate. Fry tomatoes in the same pan.

5. Preferably fry the tomatoes instead of cooking until soft. When the tomatoes turn mushy, add cumin.

6. Cool the ingredients completely. Blend them coarsely along with a garlic and tamarind or lemon juice. An onion chopper gives the best texture to a chutney.

7. Halfway through i prefer to add a small garlic clove. Add more oil to the pan and fry the seasoning ingredients. I prefer to use the same pan used for frying veggies as this lends a nice aroma to the chutney. I did not add curry leaves, but i suggest using them.

8. Switch off the stove and add chutney and coriander leaves to the pan. Stir well. Taste test and add more salt and lemon juice

Serve brinjal chutney with rice or phulka.

Tips

• Choose young & tender brinjals for chutney. Avoid using those with seeds. We usually use only the purple ones for making chutney.
• Immerse the brinjals in slightly salted water while you chop. This avoids them from developing a bitter taste.
• If you are allergic to eggplants then just substitute lemon juice for tamarind.
• Green chilies are best to use here. But you can also use dried red chilies.

More chutney recipes
carrot chutney
tomato chutney
sorakaya pachadi
beerakaya pachadi
dosakaya pachadi

Recipe

Brinjal chutney recipe