Here's to the ladies who lunch

Yesterday my dear friend and former colleague P took a five hour train ride from Bangalore over to Chennai to spend the day with me. That alone qualifies her for Hanuman friend status, I think. We had a wonderful day filled with great food, great shopping, and best of all, great conversation. See the following FLICR post to get a visual journey of the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39413808@N05/sets/72157621616992193/

We began with an autorickshaw ride to a very fancy South Indian restaurant, DAKSHIN. We were greeted at the door by my buddy Ganesha, and then the eating began. We started with pappadum, that great Indian snack/chip/catch all for the 3 chutneys (P told me it was not a bread!). That followed with the highlight of the meal for me, a delicious banana pancake dosa. The recipe is pretty simple, if you live where you can get 12 different kinds of bananas. Simply mash 12 different kinds of raw bananas, add a little sugar and rice flour and fry in ghee, that Indian cholestoral builder. It was beyond scrumptious, the sweetest rendition of bananas I've come across. The chef made appam tableside, a South Indian puffy "bread" steamed in a covered pan with no oil. We had crab and mutton for our main dishes, and were too full for dessert, which is saying something for me to not even consider the menu, as those of you who have eaten with me can attest to.

After lunch we went to a wonderful sari store and joined the crowd for sari viewing and purchasing. I've never seen such gorgeous cloth in my life, nor am I likely to again, unless I head back to another sari shop before I leave India! We ran across some sari material that was new to me, the Kolkotta wild looking prints with handstitching on the top, and a light silk sari from P's hometown of Bangalore, so I had to buy some purely to be supportive of her town's economy. We shopped a few jewelry stores successfully, (actually successfully for me) and finally ended our day back at my hotel, where P gave me an inservice on the art of proper sari wear. I can't say I'm able to do it without her, but it was fun to do it with her, as was everything we did during the day. Friends are indeed a treasure, so thanks, P, and I look forward to your "homecoming" to Iowa City in the spring.