Firstly either grate or mince veggies in a food processor or a food chopper or with a grater.
Make a coarse mince of the veggies. I have used raw green peas and minced it along with the other veggies. If you do not have a food processor or chopper, then boil or steam peas, potatoes and cauliflower separately. Drain of all the water. Then mash and add to the other raw grated veggies.
Take the veggie mixture in a bowl.
Add ¼ cup grated cheese or paneer. You can use cheddar cheese or processed cheese.
Then add ¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder, ¼ teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder and ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder.
Next add ½ cup besan and salt as per taste.
Mix very well. If the mixture appears too light and watery, then add some more besan. Check the taste and add more spices and salt if required.
Make small to medium sized balls from this veggie mixture.
If you are not able to shape into balls, then add some water and make a pakora batter consistency. Then fry the koftas like the way pakoras are fried.
frying veggie kofta
Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Add a small tiny piece of the veggie ball and see if it breaks in oil or not. If it breaks or bursts in oil, then add more besan. The amount of besan to be added depends on the moisture content in the veggies.
If using vegetables with high water content like bottle gourd (lauki), cabbage, zucchini or pumpkin etc, then add some salt in the grated veggies. Mix very well and keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes. Then squeeze the excess water. Keep this water and add to any dal or curry or while making chapatis dough.
If the veggie ball does not break, then you can easily start frying the veg koftas.
Keep the flame to medium and gently slid the koftas in the hot oil.
Add koftas depending on the size and capacity of the kadai or pan. Do not over crowd.
Turn only when one side is golden or else the koftas can break.
Turn over a couple of times for even frying. Fry till all the koftas are crisp and golden.
Remove fried vegetable koftas with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper towels. same way fry the remaining koftas.
Serve veggie kofta hot with any chutney or sauce of your choice.