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Worth trying again. Fish & caper kebabs with burnt aubergine & lemon pickle

I did this Ottolenghi recipe from "Jerusalem" a couple of weeks ago.
I'm not sure I put enough love into doing it so the fish cakes didn't hold together very well and i thought that the aubergine was a little bland but I didn't do the lemon pickle and I was in one of those moods where nothing was quite right, so I think this may deserve re-visiting and cooking with a little more care.

 The recipe

Quick Pickled Lemons

Ingredients

1/2 red chile, chopped
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 small-medium unwaxed lemons, halved lengthwise and sliced widthwise as thinly as possibly
3 tbsp superfine sugar
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
 
Use a mortar and pestle to smash the chile with 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice; you want to get a rough looking paste. Transfer to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients. Use your hands to mix everything together well so that all the flavours get massaged into the lemons. Leave in a covered bowl overnight, then transfer to sterilised sealed jar the next day.  The lemons will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Aubergines
Ingredients
2 medium aubergines (about 750g in total) 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

fish kebabs
Ingredients
400g haddock fillet, or any other white fish, skinless and boneless
30g fresh breadcrumbs
1⁄2 a medium free-range egg, beaten
20g capers, chopped
20g dill, chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1⁄3 tsp ground cumin
1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp ground white pepper
sunflower oil for frying
2tbsp 2 dessertspoons Pickled Lemons 
salt and black pepper

Method

Start with the aubergines.
Cook the aubergines in a hot oven for 30 -40 mins or blacken over a grill. Allow to cool a little. Peel and drain the aubergine flesh.
Once well drained, roughly chop the flesh and place in a mixing bowl.
Add the yoghurt, garlic, parsley, 1 teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper.
Set aside.

Cut the fish into very thin slices, only a couple of millimeters thick, then cut these into tiny dice and put in a medium mixing bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
Slightly wet your hands and shape the mixture into 12 patties or fingers, about 45g each.
Arrange on a plate, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Pour a small amount of oil into a frying pan so you have a thin layer, only about 1mm deep.
Cook the kebabs in batches over a medium high heat, 4-6 minutes for each batch, turning until coloured on all sides and cooked through.
Serve the kebabs while still hot, three per portion, alongside the burnt aubergine and a small amount of pickled lemon (careful, the lemons tend to dominate)
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