Significance
In India, Makar Sankrant symbolizes the end of the winter solstice and the monsoon, and the beginning of the harvest season. In Maharashtra, where I come from, this festival is celebrated for three days. On the first day which is ‘Bhogi’, we make this special dish that celebrates the seasonal bounty of winter vegetables along with coconut, peanuts, and sesame seeds. It provides much-needed warmth and nourishment to the body during winters. Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week! By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Minstry of Curry During my last Indian grocery store visit, a couple of weeks ago I found the traditional winter veggies for this recipe already available. So I decided to give them a try in the Instant Pot and bought the baby eggplants, fresh green chickpeas in pods, the Indian green beans (Vaal). The only vegetable I was worried about overcooking was the baby eggplant. So I cut them a little bigger to adjust the cooking time for the remaining ingredients and I was happy to see the veggies cooked so perfectly in the Instant Pot.
Vegetables
The traditional recipe uses 5 vegetables (pictured below): Although you can substitute them with any hardy vegetables of your choice. The sauce is very unique with distinct warm flavored spices and makes the curry delicious.
Prep
How to Prep the veggies for Bhogichi Bhaji:
Instructions
Step by Step recipe for Instant Pot Mix vegetable curry with sesame sauce {Bhogichi Bhaji}: Step 1: Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add the spice paste and cook for a minute stirring frequently. Add ¼ cup of water and mix well. Step 2: Add turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, tomatoes, and mix well. Step 3: Add remaining vegetables and salt. Add 1 cup water and mix well deglazing the pot making sure that the curry paste is not stuck to the bottom of the pot. Step 4: Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual/Pressure Cook(Low) for 2 minutes followed by Quick release. Garnish with cilantro. Check out more details on the three day festival of Sankrant celebrated in India and my original stovetop recipe for this mixed vegetable curry. Here are some of the traditional sweets made in Western India using sesame seeds:
Chikki - Sesame crispsTilachi Poli - Stuffed paratha with sweet sesame seed and jaggery filling
Serving
Serve this curry with hot roti’s or parathas. You can also make the South Indian Ven Pongal or Khichdi and serve this curry as a gluten-free meal. To make it a delicious vegetarian Thali I would recommend my crunchy cucumber salad or the spicy cabbage salad. Here is a quick video on how I made it. Very important to deglaze the pot a few times: ★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate.
Recipe
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