Eggplant Parmigiana with Spaghetti

I must say, this is one Italian dish I love. I am not a big fan of Italian food, especially the American-Italian version. No one uses fresh home made pasta, no one makes the sauce at home- I simply do not see the point in boiling the pasta, mixing the sauce and voila-dinner. Granted, it is easy and quick, but loaded with carb.
Despite my cribbing, Eggplant Parmigiana with spaghetti is an Italian classic. I make my own marinara sauce, but not the pasta!
Here goes----

Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients
1 medium Italian eggplant, sliced into ¼" rounds
4 eggs, beaten
Milk or heavy cream, 4 tbsp
Bread crumbs- 1-2 cups (seasoned crumbs add flavor)
Oil, about ½ to 1 cup to shallow fry
Salt and pepper, as needed
Parmesan cheese, grated- ½ cup

Salt and pepper the eggplant slices on both sides and keep aside.

Sliced eggplant resting on a bed of bread crumbs

Make sure you cook them within 30 min of slicing, if not they change color into a brown hue, not attractive! If not using the eggplant right away, place them in a bowl with salted water, about 3 cups for not more than 2 hrs.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Beat the eggs, add milk/heavy cream, salt, and pepper and keep aside. Place 1 cup bread crumbs in a plate (flat plate). Once the oil starts to smoke, dip the eggplant slice in the beaten egg batter, and place in the bread crumb plate. Coat both sides with bread crumbs. Shallow fry in oil on once side until golden brown for about 3 min. Flip and fry on the other side till golden brown for about 3 min.
Do the same with all the eggplant slices. Let it rest in a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil.
Heat the oven to 350F. Place the eggplant slices and top it with Parmesan cheese. Bake for about 5 min until the cheese melts.
You may alternatively pour the marinara sauce over the eggplant, and then top it with cheese and bake for bout 5 min until cheese melts.

Sliced eggplant, shallow frying

Spaghetti
Cook 1 lb spaghetti (I like whole wheat angel hair, less carbs!). Keep aside


Marinara sauce.

Ingredients

2 cans of 28oz crushed tomatoes (you may also use diced or stewed whole tomatoes)
Plenty of sauce with spaghetti is great!
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium Green pepper, diced
6 Garlic cloves, minced fine
2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped roughly (or oregano/thyme/marjoram) I like using fresh herbs. You may substitute fresh herb with 2 tbsp of dried Italian herb (oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, basil)
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper as needed

Heat oil in a pot over low heat. Add the rosemary (or other fresh or dried herb) and garlic. Let it simmer in low heat for about 5 min. Crank up the heat to medium and add the onion. Add salt and let it sweat for about 5-8min. Add the green peppers and let it cook for another 5 min. You must smell the aromatic veggies at this point. Now, add both the cans of tomatoes. Taste for salt, stir, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 25min.

The sauce must be boiling at this point. Marinara sauce is notorious for spluttering all around when boiling. So be careful when you stir. Taste the sauce and adjust accordingly.
Voila, home made marinara sauce.

Eggplant Parmigiana with Spaghetti ---final presentation

Mix the marinara sauce with spaghetti. In a plate, arrange the eggplant slice, alongside the spaghetti, as in the picture and say Bon Appétit!

Variation:
You may dip the eggplant in all purpose flour (or maida) before dipping it in the egg mixture. It adds an extra layer of crunch.

Green gram Sambar (Moong dal Sambar)

I can never go without sambar for more than a week. Sambar is a south Indian lentil stew or soup with plenty of veggies (or meat, if you care to add). Sambar is one thing that keeps me grounded, reminds me constantly that I am a South Indian, a proud one. I can live here in the USA, adapting to the Western way of life, but I crave Sambar constantly. It reminds me of who I am, where my roots are. In fact, I can say it is a south Indian staple, our national dish!

It might be funny for most of you that I personify sambar so much, but hey- I LOVE sambar!

I do not usually cook with green gram (Moong dal) because I simply hate it! My favorite lentil is tur dal (yellow pigeon peas). I love to make sambar (or kozhambu in tamil) and I can NEVER EVER quite make sambar like my mother! I don’t know why, I follow her recipe quite exactly!

Anyways, I soaked 2 cup of moon dal and had NO idea what to do with it, until I stumbled upon Viki’s Kitchen which I frequently refer to…and Voila! Geen gram Sambar! I have made some changes to suit my palette.

Ingredients

1 cup green gram dal- soaked overnight or for 5-6 hrs

Tamarind – 1 lemon sized ball

1-2 cups of Veggies like lima beans, tomato, beans, carrot, cauliflower etc(Frozen veggies are great as well)

1 medium onion, sliced thin

Sambar powder- 1 tbsp

Tempering ingredients- 1tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal (split chick pea lentil), 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, 4 dried red chilies

Salt, as needed

Water, as needed

Soak the green gram lentil, with peel and all, overnight or for 5-6 hrs. Pressure cook then until soft and mushy. Alternatively, you may boil then in 3 cups of water for about 1-2 hrs until soft and mushy. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the tempering ingredients. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add the sliced onion and salt and let it sweat it out for 5 min. Now add the veggies along with half the sambar powder and 3 tbsp of water.. Let it cook for another 5 min, constantly stirring. Now soak the tamarind in 1 cup hot water for 10 min. Rub tamarind to release the juice. Pour only the juice in your pot and soak the remaining tamarind in another cup of hot water for about 5 min. Again, rub the tamarind and pour only the juice into the pot. Let the veggies cook in tamarind juice for about 15min over medium heat.

Now, add a cup of cooked green gram lentil to the pot along with the reminder of sambar powder. Stir and let it cook for another 15 min over medium heat, undisturbed.

Your sambar must be soup like at this point. If not, add a tbsp corn flour dissolved in ½ cup cold water at this point. I don’t mind my sambar thick or dilute. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.

Voila, sambar ready. Serve with rice or dosa or idli or simply savor the delicacy as a soup!