Fritters are a lovely family-friendly way of livening up vegetables or using up a glut. Sweet potatoes work well because they are firm and not too wet, and gram flour is a great way of avoiding gluten (although ordinary flour will work just as well). We used our chaat masala spice blend, but any will work well. Serve with a dollop of thick yoghurt with a dash of the spices stirred through. serves 2-3

• 400g sweet potato, peeled and grated (this is the prepared weight)

• 1/2 carton chaat masala (or 1 tbsp of your chosen spice blend)

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 2 spring onions, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp gram flour (or ordinary flour is fine too)

• oil for shallow frying

• for the sauce: 125g thick yoghurt mixed with 1 tsp chaat masala

1. Place the spices, sweet potato, flour, egg, spring onions and a good pinch of salt in a bowl and mix well.

2. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Drop a tiny piece of the mixture in the oil. When it starts sizzling you can start frying.

3. Place a generous tbsp of the mixture in the pan and flatten with your spatula. Add 2 or 3 more, depending on the size of the pan.

4. Turn the fritters over once they are nicely browned, then when the second side is done keep them warm whilst finishing the rest.

5. Serve warm or cold with the yoghurt and maybe mango churney - leftovers straight out of the fridge are pretty good!

Cook’s notes

• You could try this with grated carrots or courgettes - just pat dry after grating to remove excess liquid.

• If you fancy a bit more bite, finely chop a couple of small fresh chillies and add with everything else at stage 1.

• If you want a vegan version, omit the egg and only use 1 tbsp flour to bind everything together.