My Grandmother’s Heirloom Vangi Bath Recipe: A Taste of Family Tradition

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Nostalgia Has An Aroma

My aunt, Seshu Chebolu, shared this family recipe with us recently. I had to post it so it wouldn’t get lost in the memory folds of my brain. It’s one of the most vivid memories I have of my grandma cooking for us — the plenty of ghee and oil, and that buttery taste in my mouth that will never go away.

Ingredients

Red chillies – 8–10
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds – ¾ tbsp
Dalchini (cinnamon) – 2-inch stick
Lavang (cloves) – 6–8
Elaichi (cardamom) – 2–3

For the Vangibaath

Rice – 1 cup
Potato – 1 cup
Vankaya (eggplant/brinjal) – 1 cup

Method

1. Make the powder: Heat 1 tsp oil and fry the spices. Add the sesame seeds a little later, as they take less time for frying.
2. If you take 1 cup of rice, take 1 cup of potato and 1 cup of vankaya.
3. Finally, add lime juice to taste, after mixing everything.

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The roasted spices here show whole dried red chillies, curry leaves, chana dal, and mustard seeds bloomed in oil — the crucial first phase of building that aromatic spice base.