Hara Bhara Kebab

It is a modern restaurant creation rather than a courtly one, developed as Indian restaurant menus formalised in the second half of the twentieth century and needed a vegetarian item that could sit convincingly on a tandoori platter. It has since become standard in home cooking, in lunchboxes, and in the burger patties of Indian fast-food chains.

Water is the enemy and the whole technique is water management. Spinach must be blanched, shocked and then squeezed until it is genuinely dry — a surprising amount of liquid comes out, and any left behind makes a patty that disintegrates in the pan. The same applies to peas, which should be cooked and crushed rather than blended wet.

Potato provides the binding starch and should be boiled, cooled completely and then grated rather than mashed hot; hot mashed potato goes gluey and makes the mixture sticky. Roasted gram flour or breadcrumb takes up any remaining moisture. Shallow-frying in a moderately hot pan sets a crust that holds the patty together.

Spinach, green peas and boiled potato in roughly equal measure by volume once prepared. Some versions add french beans or broccoli. Ginger, green chilli, garam masala and chaat masala; many cooks also add coriander leaf, and amchur (dried mango powder) for extra sharpness.

Roasted gram flour (besan) is the best binder — roast it dry first so it does not taste raw. A cashew half pressed into the centre of each patty is a restaurant convention and adds a bite of texture. Cornflour is a workable emergency binder if the mixture is too wet.

With mint-coriander chutney, sliced onion and lemon, as a starter. It also works in a bun as a vegetarian burger, which is how most Indian fast-food chains use it. A dusting of chaat masala at the table lifts it considerably.