Christmas veg pakora and pomegranate raita

Any leftover vegetables will work.

INGREDIENTS:

300g chickpea flour (gram flour) 1 cauliflower, broccoli or sprouts, grated

100g French beans, snap peas, chopped 1 courgette, grated 1 red onion, finely diced Half pkt baby spinach, shredded Half bunch coriander leaves, shredded 1 green chilli, finely diced 1tsp chilli powder 1tsp ground cumin Half tsp ground coriander 1tsp Tandoori masala powder Salt and pepper Oil for deep frying

METHOD

1. Place all prepared vegetables and herbs into a bowl adding the spices, salt and pepper. Then add about 200ml of cold water. With your hand, start mixing. 2. Gradually start adding the chickpea/gram flour. Try to achieve a consistency that is sticky and moist. Add more chickpea flour if needed. 3. To cook the pakora, you will need your oil to be about 165C. This is a much slower style of deep frying. I always do a little test batch to make sure I have the e seasoning correct. 4. Have a little bowl of water nearby. Using your wet hands, take a golf ball amount of mix and d flatten it out and carefully place into the hot oil. Do this until all the mixture has been through the oil. You can pre-do this stage and warm the pakoras in a hot oven when you need them. 5. When ready to serve, top with a little sliced red onion and a dusting of garam masala.

Gar y Maclean , winner of MasterChef: The Professionals, has come up with a range of tasty treats