Mix together 6 tbsp of rice flour and 3 tbsp of gram flour. Stir in ½ tsp each of ground turmeric, fennel seeds and ground chilli (hot or sweet, as you wish). Add ½ tsp of salt then stir in 100ml of cold water until you have a smooth, slightly sticky batter.
Peel 100g of beetroot and grate it coarsely into thin matchstick pieces. Peel and very finely slice an onion, and mix with the grated beetroot.
Finely slice a red and a green chilli. Toss the chilli, onion and beetroot in the batter. The batter should lightly coat the vegetables.
Have a deep pan ready with oil heated to a temperature of 180C. Scoop up large mounds of the battered vegetables, about 3 tbsp at a time, using a large spoon, then lower them carefully into the hot oil.
Let the vegetables fry for 3 or 4 minutes until they are crisp.
The beetroot and onion is held together with only the thinnest amount of batter. Keep the tangles of roots and onions together by holding them gently against the side of the pan with your spoon for a minute until the batter has set. Treat them very carefully, lifting them gently from the batter with a large draining spoon as soon as they are crisp.
If you like more batter on your vegetables then stir in a little more of both flours until you have a thicker coating consistency. It will make your fritters more doughy, but they will be more easy to handle.
Carrots and parsnip work here, too, as does kohlrabi. In which case I would season the batter with a little ground coriander (½ tsp is enough). You could also include 1 tsp of garam masala.
