Saturday, November 17, 2007

Does my blog look ugly in this?

Cathy's event about incredibly tasty, yet incredibly ugly-looking food is such an awesome idea!

It has been somewhat of a challenge this last week to take some time off from Vodka-watch so I can try out new recipes and ideas. A couple of nights ago, I wanted to try something different, yet easy - we finally settled on onion+tomato rotis and a couple of sides - all of which tasted absolutely fabulous. Wait, I had to take pictures of them before eating, but I also had to finish my meal and take Vodka for a walk ... I ended up spending less than 5 minutes on the photos as against the usual 15-30 minutes :)
Well, the results speak for themselves! I have to say that the food really did taste good - the proof here was definitely in the eating, not in the visual! :)

Ugly?



Cabbage'n'Moong Dal
Tastes better than it looks!

Servings: 4

1 cup whole moong dal
1/2 green cabbage - shredded
1 t sesame oil
1 t mustard seeds
1 t urad dal
10-12 curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida
1 t turmeric
salt
2 t ground black pepper
1/2 t ground white pepper

Rinse the moong dal and cook it with 2 cups of water (in a pressure cooker or over low heat).
Heat the oil in a wok, add the mustard seeds and let them sputter.
Add the ural dal, curry leaves and asafoetida and cook for a minute.
Now toss in the cabbage along with turmeric, stir and cook covered for about 12 minutes.
Once the cabbage is cooked, mix in the moong dal - try to fold it in so the whole moong doesn't get broken too much.
Add the peppers and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro, maybe? I didn't even get that far!


Uglier?


Acorn Squash'n'Leek Dip
Yellow, but yummy!

Servings: 4

1 small acorn squash

4-5 small leeks - chopped
2 t olive oil
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 t cayenne pepper
salt
1 t dried thyme

Cut the squash in half and deseed it.
Rub the halves with 1 t of olive oil, drizzle some thyme on them and bake in foil for 40 minutes.
Heat 1 t of olive oil in a saucepan and saute the leeks lightly.
Scoop out the baked squash insides and add it to the leeks, mashing them gently.
Add cayenne pepper and salt and saute for 1-2 minutes.
Finally, toss in the cottage cheese and mix.


Not so ugly!


We made these quick'n'easy tomato-onion rotis to go with our lovely, ugly sides!

This posting is a couple of days late, but I'm sending it off to Cathy anyway - it *so* fits the ugly bill! :)

17 comments:

Kribha said...

It dosen't look ugly at all. Infact foods like these are the ones that taste the best. I've also not put some recipes in my blog b'coz their pics did not look good. Anyway,all the recipes are nice. Beautiful (not so ugly as you think) entries for the event.

Rajitha said...

actually i liked the way the acorn dip looked than the rotis..see..this shows that all of us perceive things diff from one another ;)

sra said...

You know, I'm posting something I arranged similar to your chapatis, it never struck me to take a long shot like you did, and I'm stuck with some ugly pix to post - well, uglier than my usual, let me hasten to qualify :)

FH said...

I don't think none of them are ugly! Wrong entries!!;P

Anonymous said...

Looks like your late entry was accepted. I sent mine in yesterday but it's not on the list. Oh well...

Shweta said...

Ugly? Who is ugly? What is ugly? I don't see any 'ugly' here, I just see 'yummy'!! :) Hope Vodka is doing better!

Pravs said...

i feel no food is really ugly unless its burnt and can't be relished :) Dishes looks yummy.

Susan said...

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and I have my eye on that tempting bowl of cabbage and moong dal. In fact, I'd like a big mess of it right now, please.

bee said...

that cabbage is ugly (i bet it was smelly too :D), but the dip looks lovely.

DEEPA said...

Not at all ...Not to worry ...These recipes must be tasting really great ....

Siri said...

Ugly, No Way!! 'Yummy' ofcourse !!

- Siri

Sagari said...

cabbage curry looks deleciousss

Alpa said...

Hey, none of these looks ugly! Your rotis look so nice folded over like that. Thanks for visiting by the way!

Dori said...

Oh man, not ugly...that first picture looks darn good! I'll take cabbage anytime! Everything looks really great :)

indosungod said...

KayKat, the cabbage moong dal side dish might not (atleast in your eyes) look good but I am sure tastes awesome, I am going to try it soon.

Say Hello to Vodka for me. He is a majestic looking dog!

Nabeela said...

Lol.....that even is perfect to showcase a lot of the foods I cooked but didn't post cuz they were ugly!

KayKat said...

I think you're all waaaay too generous with your comments! :)

The more I stare at these, the ickier they look!