How to handle grief.....

I think he has made a very clear point as to why people go in grief. Amazing clarity and the way to look at things.

Updated: With lots of love - to my boss...

I have the best boss in the world - my thesis advisor. In short a rare combination of being humane, humble and at the same time extremely smart. The experience of writing my 1st paper with him is encapsulated in this cartoon. 

So here is for the best boss.....


1/3

2/3

3/3

Wishes....
Anurag

Recipe - Goat Meat/Lal Maas/Spicy Goat curry - Rajasthani Style

Hi,

   Goat meat is something I have eaten since my childhood. It is only when I came to the US I realized it is a delicacy and not easily available. Recently, I was able to get my hands on goat meat and here is my tribute to all the cooks who have fed me goat meat. The recipe below will feed 3 people with an average diet. 

Prep Time: 20 min

Cooking time ~ 70 min 

You will need:

Olive oil or clarified butter 

Goat meat: 1 pound (500 grams) - cut in small pieces and washed clean

Whole masala (100% optional): few bay leaves, pepper corns, cinnamon stick, cloves

Red onions: 2 - 3 (medium sized) - chopped fine

Haberno pepper: 1 (large) - chopped fine

Garlic Cloves: 4 - 5 (grated)

Ginger: medium sized piece (grated)

Ginger/garlic paste: 2 - 3 tablespoons

Tomatoes: 2 - 3 (medium - large) - chopped fine

Curd: 4 - 5 tablespoons - I prefer Fage brand (greek strained yogurt) you can use any 

Spices:

Garam masala: 1.5 teaspoon

Red chili powder: 2 - 3 tablespoons

Turmeric powder: 1 tablespoon

Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon

Salt: as per taste

Steps: 

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker - without the lid.

2. Once oil is heated add whole masala and cook for 1 min then add chopped onions.

3. Cook till onions are light golden brown in color.

4. Add chopped haberno, grated ginger and garlic and ginger garlic paste.

5. Cook for 1 min and add garam masala and cook for 1 min.

6. Add goat meat and cook on high heat until all the moisture evaporates - do not burn the meat in this step be careful.

7. Add tomatoes and cook on high heat till all the water dries up. 

8. When the water is drying up in step 7, take the yogurt and put chili, turmeric and coriander powder and some water and mix well. 

9. Put the mixture in the cooker.

10. Mix everything well and let it come to boil. 

11. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the cooker with a plate and let it cook for 10 - 15 min. Stir every 5 min.

12. Now cover close the lid of the pressure cooker and put 2 whistles - if you want the meat to be medium rare, for well done ~ 3 whistles.

13. If the meat is cooked well all the oil you put will separate and come on the surface - as in the picture below.

14. Serve with hot rotis/naan/rice.

PS: If you want -  garnish it with fresh cilantro and scallions. 

PPS: If you want to be more fancy add - bay leaves, cinnamon, pepper corns before the chopped onions. 

Let me know if you have any questions - I have almost perfected this recipe. 

Bon appetit

A

See pictures below.....

Figure: Golden brown onions with whole spices, ginger, garlic and garam masala

Figure: Goat added and cooked till all the moisture evaporates

Figure: Add the tomatoes

Figure: Heat them and keep heating till all the water is gone

Figure: This is how it looks once all the water from tomatoes evaporates

Figure: Add the curd mixed with spices and bring to boil

Figure: Cooked meat - Love the color and the texture - note no artificial color has been added

Figure: Served with hot naan 

See this plot - shocking inference

Source: Lancet

Hi this a plot of various chemicals that are used to get a buzz......

Lesson: Cannabis (marijuana/pot)/LSD/Ectasy does less physical harm and is less addictive than alcohol.....

Question: So why dont they make it legal, if alcohol is legal?


Perhaps it is illegal that is the reason people want to pay a huge premium to get it.....

Think about it....

A

Hey, You! Mean People Earn More, Study Finds - Source: Wall Street Journal

I found this article in WSJ today and I am putting it up here. My personal experience: Unfortunately it is true....

"It may not pay to be nice in the workplace.

A new study finds that agreeable workers earn significantly lower incomes than less agreeable ones. The gap is especially wide for men.

The researchers examined "agreeableness" using self-reported survey data and found that men who measured below average on agreeableness earned about 18% more—or $9,772 more annually in their sample—than nicer guys. Ruder women, meanwhile, earned about 5% or $1,828 more than their agreeable counterparts.

"Nice guys are getting the shaft," says study co-author Beth A. Livingston, an assistant professor of human resource studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

The study "Do Nice Guys—and Gals—Really Finish Last?" by Dr. Livingston, Timothy A. Judge of the University of Notre Dame and Charlice Hurst of the University of Western Ontario, is to be presented on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, a professional organization for management scholars. The study is also forthcoming in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The researchers analyzed data collected over nearly 20 years from three different surveys, which sampled roughly 10,000 workers comprising a wide range of professions, salaries and ages. (The three surveys measured the notion of "agreeableness" in different ways.) They also conducted a separate study of 460 business students who were asked to act as human-resource managers for a fictional company and presented with short descriptions for candidates for a consultant position. Men who were described as highly agreeable were less likely to get the job.

For men being agreeable may not conform "to expectations of 'masculine behavior,'" the researchers write in the study. People who are more agreeable may also be less willing to assert themselves in salary negotiations, Dr. Livingston adds.

Other research shows that rudeness may not always benefit employees or their firms. A paper presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association found that 86% of 289 workers at three Midwestern firms in the manufacturing and health-care industries reported incivility at work, including public reprimands and making demeaning comments. Incivility was bad for the organizations as a whole, though, increasing employee turnover, found the researchers, Jeannie Trudel, a business professor at Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion, and Thomas Reio, a professor at Florida International University.

"The problem is, many managers often don't realize they reward disagreeableness," says Dr. Livingston. "You can say this is what you value as a company, but your compensation system may not really reflect that, especially if you leave compensation decisions to individual managers."

Lockerz, a 65-person Seattle, Wash., social-commerce company, has what it calls a "no jerks and divas" policy that is stressed in its employee handbook and orientation, says Chief Executive and founder Kathy Savitt. She notes, though, that there is a difference between being respectful and being agreeable. "We are not about being 'nice' or 'agreeable' or 'civil,'" she says. "We have a lot of robust debates about all kinds of things. But we do stress the notion of being respectful."

Paul Purcell, chairman, president and chief executive of Robert W. Baird & Co., a Milwaukee financial-services firm, says that his 2,700-employee company "doesn't hire or tolerate jerks. That's frankly a large percentage of people in our business. They don't get through the interview process." The firm has fired at least 25 offenders of its "no-jerk" policy, he says.

Human-resources consulting firm Development Dimensions International, of Pittsburgh, offers courses in "Interaction Management," covering interpersonal skills such as teamwork, managing conflict and giving and receiving feedback. "They are very trainable skills," says Jim Davis, DDI's vice president of work force and service development, who says that its interaction-training business is up 20% so far this year."

Wishes,

Anurag

For all the Snobbish Connoisseur

Have a gr8 weekend
A

Recipe - French Toast (Indian Style)

Hi,
   Egg is the ultimate comfort food!!! Cooks fast, is delicious and nutritious. Here is the my twist to the french toast i.e. cooking it with Indian Style.

1. Take 3 eggs (organice, cage free, vegetarian diet fed chicken please).
2. Add chili powder and salt to taste and beat them up so everything mixes well.

3. On the side finely chop some red onion and a green chili.
4. Add them (onion and chili) in the beaten up eggs and mix everything well.

5. Heat some EVOO in a non stick frying pan.

6. On the side take a slice of white bread and dip it in the eggs till the bread soaks up the mixture.

7. Put the soaked bread in the frying pan and on the side up put some onions and green chills from the egg mixture. Cook one side for 2 min on a medium heat.

8. Flip the bread, be careful not to break it. The way I do it is - I make sure the spatula I use has enough area so I can accomodate the entire bread slice. 

9. Cook for 2 min on medium heat.

10. And voila, enjoy it with ketchup and a  glass of fresh orange juice.


P.S:

•  If you like the toast to be sweet add some sugar and vanilla extract and get rid of the chillies and reduce the salt by 80%.
• This recipe can feed well one average adult person (like it can be a brunch kinda thing).
• To make the dish more fancy you can add cilantro, scallions as well.

Next will be my escapade with an exotic dish I cooked. 

Bye
A