Tandoori Brownie- A hunk-a hunk-a burning Fudge

So last night we went to the highly recommended La Pizzeria here in Pune. (Mary and Eddy said it is their favorite place.) It was a long rickshaw ride across town but well worth the 45 rupees. The atmosphere was decidedly un-Indian and except for some funny quirks in the way the menu read, it was very Western. (For instance you could get ginger tea to drink and "chiles" was spelled "chillys". (Pasta with peppers and chillys). Kind of cute, right?

The atmosphere was great, the food was a welcome change to the food rut I have been in and the dessert, while not very tasty, was quite hilarious. I thought I was ordering a brownie sundae but their interpretation of brownie sundae was more like Tandoori Brownie. Imagine a fajita-type skillet steaming hot with a brownie set down on top of the smoking hot aluminum plate which was set in one of those wooden holders. There was a scoop of ice cream on top of the brownie. The plate was then set down in front of me and the waiter proceeded to drizzle fudge sauce on top which then hit the fajita plate with a gust of burning, sugary smoke that then cooked into a burnt chocolate mass on the plate yielding not so much chocolate flavor, as a smoke-infused burnt sugar flavor to the entire dessert. I cannot believe that dessert passed any test taste. The test panel certainly did not earn their keep on that one.

Anyway- Sunday is a day off from classes and so we practiced and then had lunch. (Cabbage subji- not thrilling, not bad. More in the neutral I -can- cope zone not in the I- am- bordering -on -despair -after- lunch zone. The subji was helped out by the leftover pasta I brought home from dinner.) We will probably watch a movie this afternoon and then clean up and head to The Institute for the Guru Purnima festivities. Rumor has it there will be a big feast there so that also took the edge of the cabbage subji.

Yes, it is time to go home. All esoteric considerations are lost to the less than profound contemplation of "what is for lunch?"

Anne and I gave deposits for The Institute in '09 and also for our flat so we are intending to return in two years. Kind of strange way to organize life, but there it is.

Okay- more tomorrow.