Makar Sankranti is the first festival to take place in January following the start of the new year and the cold weather. On the eve of Makar Sankranti, a unique vegetable meal called “Bhogi” is cooked. The body needs energy, and there are plenty of veggies available today. Naturally, one’s hunger rises, and the food is well-digested on cold days. This is why bajra/ bajri (pearl millet) flatbreads and a vegetable dish consisting of five veggies are served on Bhogi. During the winter days, this keeps the body warm. Let’s understand the health benefits of the Bhogi vegetable dish.
The Bhogi vegetable dish includes carrots, brinjal (eggplant), field beans, sesame seeds, and chickpeas, along with peanuts. Carrots, brinjal (eggplant), field beans, sesame seeds, chickpeas, and peanuts make up the Bhogi vegetable dish. Although brinjal is considered “vatu” (an Ayurvedic condition that denotes coldness in the body), it is not recommended to eat it often. Nonetheless, Ayurveda states that eating brinjal as a vegetable or in the form of bharta (mashed) throughout the winter is good for your health.
Fatty foods like peanuts and sesame seeds provide the body with incredible energy. Consuming them also aids in lowering skin dryness. Dairy items such as milk, curd, ghee, butter, and buttermilk should be consumed with this vegetable dish in order to produce heat in the body while keeping the stomach calm. Bhogi vegetable dish is prepared to warm the body. Eating these vegetables contributes to improved health and wellness.
Pearl millet, or bajra, is a warming grain that is thought to be good for you to eat in the winter. Bajra is a great way to treat colds and coughs since it warms the body. Mix sesame seeds with bajra flour, knead the dough, and make rotis. When these rotis are served with Bhogi’s veggie dish, they taste even better and are more scrumptious. Sesame and bajra are both warming therefore they help keep the body warm and shield against the winter cold.
