Hello all.  My name's Warren.  I'm fond of Indian cooking (or I wouldn't be here! ) and I've been trying it for a few years, though I'm definitely no expert.  I can follow recipes in the books I have, which turn out well, but otherwise... well, that's also why I'm here, to find out what I'm doing wrong.

My usual problem happened today, when I tried whipping up a basic curry for the family's tea.  I fried off some cold beef, freshly-ground roasted spices, plenty of garlic and onion, and loads of ginger.  Great.  Lovely smells.
Then I blended up a couple of tins of tomatoes and poured them in, and that was that.  Killed the curry stone dead.  I could only get a taste of slightly bitter dishwater.  Tablespoons of sugar and garam masala couldn't do much to change it, and I ended up going down to the chip shop.

I have a couple of ideas what went wrong, but I don't know for certain.  I've heard warnings about cooking chickpeas in tomato-based sauces because of the acidity and bitterness.  Is that the problem?  I also know about old spices losing their flavour, but I don't know how much that applies between ground and whole.  Like I said, I used whole spices and they weren't too bad frying off, but they are starting to get a bit past it.  Time for a restock?
Or is there something else?  I'm eager to hear any suggestions and tips.  Thanks!