Badrijani Nigvzit

Ingredients

• 3 large aubergines (about 900 g)
• 2 tsp salt for drawing out the aubergine
• 150 ml sunflower oil
• 250 g shelled walnuts
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp blue fenugreek
• 1/2 tsp dried marigold petals
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 100 ml cold water
• 1/2 tsp salt for the paste
• 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
• seeds of 1 pomegranate

Before you cook

• Slice the aubergines lengthways about 7 mm thick.
• Salt the slices and stand them in a colander for 20 minutes to draw out the bitter juice.
• Chop the fresh coriander and knock the seeds out of the pomegranate.
• Peel the garlic.

Steps

1. Pat the salted aubergine slices completely dry with kitchen paper.
2. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. Fry the slices in batches for 2 minutes a side, until golden and floppy.
4. Drain them on kitchen paper and leave them to cool to room temperature.
5. Grind the walnuts with the garlic to a thick paste in a food processor.
6. Add the ground coriander, blue fenugreek, marigold, cayenne, vinegar and half a teaspoon of salt, and pulse to combine.
7. Loosen the paste with the cold water a spoonful at a time, until it is spreadable but not runny.
8. Stir most of the chopped fresh coriander through the paste.
9. Spread a heaped teaspoon of the walnut paste along each aubergine slice.
10. Roll each slice up from the narrow end and set it seam side down on a platter.
11. Scatter the pomegranate seeds and the last of the coriander over the top.
12. Let the rolls sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving, so the walnut paste relaxes.