PacoMarcSue Lamb

I prepared this a few days back. I am dedicating this to my friend Marc Ratcliffe for his penchant, for enjoying life with his family and trying out new things to cook for his colleagues at his office.


As always, my preparations are not for the faint-hearted, but the indulgent variety. Once made this preparation should taste a little tangy, remind you of green chillies on the tip of your tongue, and should clear your throat. Incase of any clarifications, write to me... you know my email ID.

I couldn't have done this without the 'marinating' help from my wifey, Sudipa (That was the Oscar speech)...

Yenjoie!

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Get meaty & lean lamb chops and marinate them with curd, salt, green chillies, garlic paste and ginger paste. Keep it marinated for a minimum of 6hrs, but a day would be divine.

Heat oil in a wok (best) or in a nonstick frying pan, and sear the drained lamb chops. The purpose of searing is to seal the juices within, so the oil has to be hot. The purpose is not to cook the meat. In fact if it is properly seared, then the meat will become a little tough, but don't worry. Once seared, keep it aside, covered. Preserve the marinade as it will be required later on.

Heat oil in a wok (best) or in a nonstick cooking vessel (deep-bottom). Once the oil is hot, put in a spoon-full (or two) of regular grain-sugar, and let it caramelise a bit. Once the sugar gets caramelised, and oil is hot again (not too hot), add some chopped garlic, ginger, chillies and powdered black pepper. Once the garlic gets a little discolored, add the chopped onions (good quantity, as this forms the sauce) and fry them till they become brown in color, and the oil starts leaving the sides.

If you have turmeric, then add the turmeric paste (turmeric powder mixed with water and a little oil), once the onions have turned pink. You need to be able to handle the turmeric well, so, follow the instructions well. As the onions turn pink, use the spatula, and segregate the onions from the oil, then add the turmeric paste. A second or two later pour in a little water on the paste (which by now has started frying), and then a little oil on top of it. Why is this done... Well, this is to ensure that the turmeric doesn't get burnt (as the temperature required for it to cook is very low compared to the temperature of the oil)... and its my mother's way of doing it; so, just do it! If you are not using turmeric, then you needn't go through all of this. Turmeric adds a beautiful flavor to the meet. It is pungent, so, don't use a lot... just a teaspoon is all that you need for a kilo of onions.

Add the meat, and keep turning it over & over. This is a tedious process, as the meat should not get stuck to the bottom of the cooking vessel, and the onions should not get burnt. To control the temperature of the oil, use the marinade (mixed with some water). Keep on cooking till such time the meat becomes 75% cooked (use God's best gift to mankind to test that... thumb, index finger, and your teeth). Add water (warm water preferred) till it covers all the meat (and also if any marinade is left... which shouldn't be the case). Put a lid on the vessel, and let it simmer. Keep stirring it from time-to-time. You could ask your spouse to help you (my wife is insisting on adding this line)

Keep cooking it till the mutton gets 'almost' done, keep adding water (warm water preferred) if required. Once 'almost' done, the sauce should have the same consistency as that of the regular bottled tomato sauce.

When just five minutes away, add chopped coriander / parsley leaves mixed with mint leaves, a generous helping of lemon juice and sprinkle garam masala (use the packed version available with any indian condiment store or use a powdered mixture of cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander seeds, cardamom small, cardamom big, fennel seeds and bayleaves), and black pepper powder. Mix them together with the spatula. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on high heat, while turning the meat regularly & the gravy. Cut the fire, put on the lid, keep a heavy pestle or any heavy thing on top (incase the lid is not air-tight), and let it rest for 15mins.

Put the preparation in a serving-dish, sprinkle chopped coriander/parsley leaves & fine strips of deseeded green chillies & some pepper corn as garnish.
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Have this with rice or tawa-roti/tandoori-roti/naan (types of indian breads) or french loaf (too spicy for dinner rolls). If you want this served as a complete meal, then make a bead of rice on a plate, make a hole in between (should look like a large rice doughnut), and place the sauce and meat in the middle.



E & OE

Clients are too busy to keep their appointments. How to handle such situation?

This is the situation which occurs many a times... and its a good point that may help you. I recently responded to the same in a training session, where these Financial Planners were complaining that people don't even give time to discuss their financial plans although they may be paying for the ‘financial planning’ service.

My answer to them was SPIN (www.huthwaite.org). What we need to understand is that people don't buy solutions, or listen to you, or go through your documents, just because they have a problem that any of the above can solve.

Let me explain this in simpler terms...
1. Do we go to the physician when we have symptoms of the flu... No!
2. Do we go to the physician when the implication of the flu is such that it hampers things that are non-negotiable with us, such as not being able to meet the client leading to a loss of revenue... Well, YES!!!

The crux of the matter is that we don't take up solutions when there are problems, even if there is a 'contract'. On the other hand, once the implications of the problems are so large that they start impacting cost, convenience, time, quality etc., we open up to looking at solutions.

So, what you may want to do is to talk to your client in terms of implications of a delayed conversation... will the delay lead to a postponed project close, and will that lead to a delayed implementation, and will that lead to an increase in cost... so, what we are talking about is a balance with cost on one side and the value that one sees in talking to you 'now' on the other.

We need to build 'that' value in your conversation, which I am sure you are doing... and as I always tell myself, every conversation is a 'sales' conversation; if not in real terms, imagine them to be. By doing this one increases the chances of success.


Warm Regards,


Paco



PS… Do read the book ‘SPIN Sales Fieldbook’ by Neil Rackham

Collaboration in Learning

I have been using collaboration in learning programs for sometime. In my current role, we have started looking at them being used very seriously.

In particular, there is a program called 'Sell Out Of Trouble' (SOOT), wherein we use the experience & learning of all participants to collaborate and resolve problems emanating out of a live case study ('personal financial planning' interaction).

The process is tedious for the facilitator, but the application of learning in the simulated environment is quick-effective-efficient, disparity in learning comes out and can be fine-tuned, seeing the learning being applied in action builds conviction; all of this leads to a higher probability of the learning being applied in the workplace. It is also important that the case study being used to collaborate is live in nature & spirit. For example in SOOT, facilitators use their own life as a case study, and become the subject who's financial planning needs to be done. The collaborative effort in unearthing the exact problems, their implications and finally the solution to payoff their need, builds conviction in the learners that the discussed methodology of sales 'works', and its OK to give it a try in the field.

Collaboration has been used in learning environments for a vey long time.

If you have any more examples of having used collaboration in the learning & development space, please do leave a note...