Courgette and green bean pakoras

These were one of the starters at our recent Harvest supper club. They are perfect for September, making the most of the late summer courgettes and green beans. Because the vegetables are quickly fried in the hot oil you still get their delicious fresh flavour - crunch from the beans and a soft fritter texture from the courgettes. We served these with a minty raita, some peppery salad leaves, pickled chilli and pomegranate seeds, but they are also great served alongside a curry to add a bit of crunch.

If you are a bit scared of deep frying (or just can’t be bothered with litres of oil) you can shallow fry these but you will need to flip them over a couple of times and they will take slightly longer to cook. I’ve also made these with frozen peas in place of the green beans with great results.

Makes 20-25 pakoras

400g courgettes, roughly grated
200g green beans, chopped into 1cm pieces
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon turmeric
150g gram flour (chickpea flour, also known as besan flour)
90ml water
Salt to taste
A pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Sunflower oil for deep-frying

To serve:

A wedge of lemon or lime
Raita (grated cucumber and chopped mint mixed with natural yoghurt and seasoned with garlic, salt and a little lemon juice)
Pomegranates seeds for garnish

Roughly grate the courgette and add a pinch of salt. Rub everything together and leave for a couple of minutes. Then squeeze to remove all the liquid.

Add the green beans, red onions, spices and salt to the grated courgette and mix well.

Put the gram flour and bicarbonate of soda in a separate bowl and slowly add the water to make a thick batter. It will seem too thick, but once you add the vegetables it will loosen up. Add the vegetables into the batter and mix well.

Fill a heavy bottomed wok or deep saucepan one-third full of sunflower oil and heat to 180ºC. Drop heaped teaspoon of batter, one at a time, into the hot oil. Deep fry in batches of six or eight pakoras until they are golden brown and crispy, which will only take about two minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Serve the pakoras with a squeeze of lime juice, a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds and raita for dipping.