Fellow newbie here.

Only a relatively recent convert to the curry taste (a few years).

Balti Saag Vindaloo hot (chicken or lamb, depends on my mood) my current dish of choice from our local takeaway - Pearl of Bengal.

Wow! Looks like I've got my work cut out there, let's hope it's worth it.

I've got a few books at home with various recipes, I'll make something based on the recipes here and in the books at home.

Thanks for the tips, hopefully this is my first of many!

I made a meal from a Jamie Oliver recipe which claimed to be a "curry" but I think that would be an infringement of the Trade Descriptions act! Ended up like a watery Thai soup - tasted lovely, but wasn't quite what I was hoping for!

I'll let you know how I get on.

I wasn't going to follow a particular recipe exactly, but I guess the ingredients would lend themselves to a Rogan Josh of some description.

I have also got fresh and ground coriander, fenugreek (not the leaves though) and a shop bought curry powder - local Asian shop. Was going to also use cloves and some saffron I've got in the cupboard for an extra flavour...

Unsure about the paste thing - I don't have a belnder so will have to do everything by hand. Reading the recipes for pastes it suggests using a blender - is this really a necessity?

Never cooked a curry before, bought myself a few ingredients and I'm going to give it a go tonight. Wish me luck! ;D

Ingredients:
Chicken (thigh & breast)
Tomatoes
Onions
Yoghurt
Garam Massala
Curry Leaves
Green Chillies
Chilli Powder
Turmeric
Cumin
Cinnamon
Garlic
Ginger

plus a few other odds and sods.

Any pointers would be gratefully recieved.

Looking forward to all the smells in my kitchen!