Serves 4
Ingredients

175g gram (chickpea) flour, sieved
1½ tsp medium red chilli powder
3 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp asafetida
2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
100ml sunflower oil
2 large aubergines, washed, sliced in 1cm-wide discs, and soaked in water with 1 tsp salt
1 handful fresh coriander, washed and finely chopped

Method
1 Put the flour, chilli powder, salt, turmeric, cumin seeds, asafetida, ground coriander and ground cumin into a large mixing bowl and, making sure your hands are dry, mix everything together by hand.

2 Heat the oil for 1 min in a large, thick-based frying pan. Take a slice of aubergine out of the water, shake off any excess and then dab each side in the spiced flour. Place in the pan and repeat until the pan is full. This should take about 3 min and you should have coated around half the slices.

3 Fry the coated aubergine slices on a medium heat for a minute, then gently turn each one and fry on the other side for 3 min. Tum again and fry for 5 min. Turn once more, cover and cook for 4 min. Gently remove from the pan and place on a serving plate.

4 Repeat the process with the remaining slices. By now the spiced flour will be getting quite sticky, so just smear it onto the aubergines if dabbing is not feasible.

5 Once all the slices have been cooked, serve immediately on a bed of tameta pilau with a generous dollop of sour cream.