No problem all suggestions were more than welcome. I only use coconut in the korma, which confusingly, is actually a drupe, not a nut and as such, it doesn't contain the allergy causing protein. Even almond would be okay for most nut allergy sufferers, peanut is the one to worry about - my son is one of those with the allergy 

Thankfully all three curries have now been made and are safely in the fridge. Bhaji, naans and sides tomorrow!

Well thankfully, I only have two rabbits, no guinea pigs and they are not the eating sort!

Samples made of madras, pathia and vindaloo have passed the volunteer taste test - even though they aren't 100% so I'm going to go with it. Could be a silver lining here, if they don't like them, they won't ask me to do another curry night 

Thanks again for all the help :-)

Thanks SD - yes, definitely no burnt taste, if anything it seems to have cooked most of the flavour out of the base leaving only the taste of chili which is strange as I didn't add a lot of chili to the base. No mango chutney here sadly, I usually make my own but with three curries, nearly 100 bhaji and 60 naan to make, I'm not going there today I  might try some palm sugar or jaggery in it but then it is going to taste like nothing anybody will have tasted before!
Wondering whether to go with a Pathia now in the hope that the jaggery and tamarind paste will mask most of the bitterness - though I did that last time and wanted to go with something different, decisions decisions. Going to play around with single portions of different dishes and will try the lemon or some tamarind in a masala and see how it goes. Have given myself until 2pm as the cut of point whereby I'll have to either run with it or head to the shops...

Thanks again everybody.

If only it were that easy - two of the guests have peanut allergy.

I have added tom paste to the korma, will add onions and tomatoes when I finish it later and it will now be a Malai - hoping nobody has ever tried the dish and won't be able to tell the difference!

Going to try a portion of the vindaloo now and see how it tastes. Any help on what medium dish would be best to disguise the slight bitterness? It doesn't taste at all burnt, just a very slightly bitter after taste. The pot was a 35 litre pot with 25 litres of base and about a 6cm diameter circle burnt on the bottom so not too much in comparison to the amount of base.

Fingers crossed for the vindaloo.

Thanks Phil,
believe it or not, I won't make a penny out of it but only cover my costs as it's a favour to a crowd of expats. I did one a few months back and swore never to do so again......

I'm totally unsure of what to do, it tastes okay but there is an after taste, should have done the bhuna first as now I'm low on ingredients for the korma 

Hi chewytikka, thanks for your reply - even though I don't relish the thought of starting again, I might have to do so!

Made the korma and still can't decide.  It tastes like a korma but there is a definite slight after taste - it is edible but just not sure if people would notice. Will the taste be less noticeable in the bhuna and vindaloo? Wondering if I could get away with just making a new base for the korma.

Thanks Phil, I'm going to give the korma a go, will let you know how it goes!

Hi, not sure if this is the right place for this post but I'm sure it will be moved if not.

I have browsed the site on and off for a couple of years now and found the recipes and techniques excellent so thanks for creating such a brilliant site.

My first post is actually to ask for some help and it's pretty urgent. Tomorrow, I have to cook for 50 people and made my base sauce last, it was a bit watering and so I left it on to reduce but would you believe it..... I fell asleep. Woke this morning to find it had caught and burnt on the bottom. The base now has a slightly bitter taste, not too bad, more an after taste. I am loathe to start a new batch due to time and of course cost (there is about 25 litres of base).
My questions is, will I be able to use the base and disguise the taste? Curries will be a chicken korma, pork vindaloo and either a chicken bhuna or jalfrezi.

Hope somebody can help, thanks.