In a bowl, take a cup of roughly chopped coriander leaves. You can also include the tender stems as they add a lot of flavour.

Add finely chopped onions to the coriander.

Add the green chilli, ginger, and garlic paste. Alternatively, you can use red chilli powder instead of green chilli.

Add coarsely crushed coriander seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida powder, carom seeds (crushed between palms), and cumin seeds (crushed between palms).

Add salt to taste.

Add gram flour (also known as besan) and rice flour to the mixture.

Mix everything well without adding water initially.

Gradually add a little water at a time and mix to form a thick batter. The consistency should be such that you can easily drop spoonfuls into the oil. For the given quantity, approximately one bowl of water (the same bowl used for gram flour) is usually sufficient.

Add a pinch of baking soda to the batter.

Add a small amount of water on top of the soda and mix the batter thoroughly. Alternatively, you can add 2 spoons of hot oil instead of soda for crispy bhajis (pakodas).

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.

Once the oil is hot, drop small portions of the batter into the oil.

Fry on medium heat. Once the initial foam subsides, stir the bhajis (pakodas).

Fry until they turn golden brown and crispy.

In the same oil, fry the slit green chillies that have been filled with a little salt.

Remove the fried bhajis (pakodas) and green chillies from the oil and drain excess oil.

The bhajis (pakodas) should be crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside, not oily.

Serve the hot kothimbir bhajis (pakodas).

Enjoy your homemade Kothimbir Bhaji (Pakodas)!