What do you do with vegetable gluts/left overs?

With so many vegetables being plentiful at this time of year, its easy to end up with various bits in the bottom of the fridge that need using up. For gardeners, there are often gluts. This recipe for courgettes, works very well with a variety of other vegetables – take your pick and is a light, spicy and crisp alternative to vegetable soup. Not all vegetables have the high water content of courgettes, so you may need to add a bit more water:

Courgette Bhajis

Ingredients

1 medium-large courgette coarsely grated

½ tsp salt

1 large red onion cut into slices

1 large handful of coriander roughly chopped

250g gram flour (chickpea flour- stocked in most supermarkets)

1 pinch - ¼ tsp chilli flakes/cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want the)

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp cumin seeds, crushed

1 clove of crushed garlic

1 tsp grated fresh ginger (½ tsp dried ginger)

Spray cooking oil, or a little oil to brush onto the bhajis

Method

1. Put the grated courgette in a bowl with the salt, mix and leave for ½ an hour until the liquid comes out of the courgette (leave the liquid with the grated courgette).
2. Preheat oven to 200ºC 392F Gas 5.
3. Line a baking sheet with baking paper or a silicone mat.
4. Add all the other ingredients, except the water and gram flour, into a large mixing bowl and mix everything well with your clean hands.
5. Now add the gram flour - still no water - and mix well with your hands. There should be just about enough moisture from the courgettes. Don’t try to use utensils—it makes it more difficult.
6. It should form a very stiff and mouldable batter. If you find the mixture too dry add a little water—about 1tbsp at a time. Don’t overdo this part—be patient.
7. Take a medium handful of the mixture and place it gently on the baking sheet. Carry on doing that with all the mixture. You may need another baking sheet.
8. Spray the bhajis with some spray oil or brush them lightly with some cooking oil.
9. Bake in the oven (or an air fryer) for 20-30 minutes—you should not need to turn the bhajis over.
10. Cool on a wire rack for a short while before serving