Instant Pot Bhogichi Bhaji | Mixed Vegetable Curry

"Bhogichi Bhaji"  is a traditional Maharashtrian mixed vegetable curry with a spicy sesame sauce that celebrates the seasonal bounty of winter vegetables cooked in an earthy, aromatic sauce with coconut, peanuts, and sesame seeds.

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.

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):

1. Eggplant
2. Green Beans
3. Carrots
4. Tomatoes
5. Green Chickpeas

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:

1. Split the green beans into 2 vertically, discarding the top and bottom ends. Then break them into 2-inch pieces using your fingers or cut them with a knife
2. Remove the green chickpeas from the pods by peeling them open and discard the outer skin

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 crisps
• Tilachi 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:

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Recipe

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Mixed Vegetable Curry with Sesame Sauce - Instant Pot

Knows as Bhogichi Bhaji in Maharashtra this authentic curry is made to celebrate the seasonal bounty of winter vegetables

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 6

Calories: 136kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

Part 1 Spice Paste:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon dry unsweetened coconut roasted
• ▢ 1 tablespoon peanuts roasted
• ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sesame seeds roasted
• ▢ ½ tablespoon ginger grated
• ▢ 6 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ ¼ cup water

Part 2:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ ½ tablespoon ground cumin
• ▢ ½ tablespoon ground coriander
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• ▢ ½ cup fresh green chickpeas removed from the pods
• ▢ 1 cup flat green beans cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 6 baby eggplant cut into quarters
• ▢ 1 tomato diced
• ▢ 2 carrots peeled and sliced
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup cilantro finely chopped

Instructions

• Make a fine paste of all the ingredients from Part 1 with water.
• Set Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add the spice paste and cook for a minute stirring frequently. Add water and mix well.
• Add turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, tomatoes and sauté. 
• Add remaining vegetables and salt. Add 1 cup water and mix well deglazing the pot making sure the curry paste is not stuck to the bottom of the pot. 
• Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual/Pressure Cook(Low) for 2 minutes followed by Quick release.
• Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy with warm Roti topped with sesame seeds. 

Video

Notes

Note:

• 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.  
• This recipe uses a lot of vegetables that are only sold in Indian grocery stores. You can always substitute them with any hardy vegetables of your choice or even a bag of frozen mixed vegetables 
• Stovetop Recipe - Bhogichi Bhaji

Nutrition

Calories: 136kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 746mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 4165IU | Vitamin C: 17.3mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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