Peel and cut the carrot in thin julienne sticks. You can also grate the carrot if you prefer. Then place it in a mixing bowl.

Trim and finely slice the green beans and add them to the carrot. Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice the onion and put it in carrot mix.

Chop the coriander leaves and add them to the vegetable mix.

Peel and grate the potato. Using a kitchen towel, pat the potato to absorb as much as water that comes out of the potato. Then put it in the vegetable mix.

Sprinkle the rice flour (if using) over the vegetables. Stir well.

Chop the chillies if using, then add them to the vegetable mix. You can also use 1 tsp dried chilli flakes or red chilli powder if you prefer.

Then add all the spices, i.e. ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, whole cumin seeds, carom seeds (if using) and salt into the vegetable. Stir well.

Add the gram flour in, mix well and pour the water in and stir the vegetable mix.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Make sure it’s hot enough, but not too hot. Test it by throwing a little bit of the gram flour mixture in the pan. It should come to the surface at a slow and steady pace. If it comes up fast, it means the oil is too hot, and you would want to turn the heat down.

Carefully drop a tablespoon of vegetable mixture in the hot oil. You can also use your hand to pick the veggies and place them in the pan. The latter method gives you a bit more control in how much vegetable mixture you want. It also makes the shape of the pakoras thinner and not too bulky. So they fry better.

Turn the veggie fritters when they look golden. It takes approximately 7-10 minutes to fry these vegetable pakoras.