I must be boring! Rick stein's india is what I'm listening to.

My guess is the coconut powder was to thicken the gravy, which i assumed to be the watery version. I forgot to add the onion paste a' la Julian, but surely any lack of depth to the flavour would be down to the gravy? which of the myriad of gravy's did you use? I'm sure, like me, you can adapt and modify this recipe to suit your own taste, maybe roast the garlic you make the garlic\chilli paste with? or half of it? let me know if you improve it so I can attempt it too. 

Like the look of this recipe a lot.  Not sure about the chicken bits though.

Rob 

Elaborate please, I don't understand. 

This is a without doubt my all time favorite dish, but having tried a lot of recipe's I'd got not very close tbh, until I happened upon a recipe on some curry forum or other. There are the usual 2 elements, the base gravy and whatever mix powder you prefer. I've used both Indian and Bangladeshi base gravy with good results, and mix powders recipes from various curry chefs. I use a bassar mix for this one because I like it, but I've used many other with good results. In this curry theres a third pre prepared element (not including the meat of course) which is detailed below and imho is the difference between a close second and the real deal, it is the garlic\chilli paste. The recipe for both the curry and the garlic\chilli paste are from a Bangladeshi curry chef who works in a Glasgow restaurant I'm told, but who and where was not disclosed. 

Garlic\Chilli sauce

Ingredients makes approx a jam jar full.

180 g of peeled garlic
25 g of peeled ginger
20 thin green chillies
1 tablespoon of mango chutney
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of vinegar
1 Tbsp oil

Method

Blend it to a smooth paste, job done.

South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken

Ingredients

1/4 of a green pepper diced
2 tablespoon of melted ghee
1 tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste
1 heaped teaspoon of garlic chilli sauce
1 tablespoons of tomato paste cut 50/50 with water
1/2 tablespoon of mix powder
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
5 thin green chillies (seeds removed, chopped finely)
Pinch of salt
Good pinch of Methi leaves
1 teaspoon of coconut powder
250 ml of base gravy
1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 a teaspoon of garam masala powder
1 good squirt of lemon dressing
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander.
10\12  pre cooked chicken bits ( smallish)

Method

Heat Pan (Moderate)
Add Ghee
Add half of the chopped green chilli's and pepper, cook for 2 minutes
add garlic\ginger paste cook for another two minutes
add tomato paste, mix in and cook through
add lemon, salt and combine
Turn heat up and add mix powder,sugar,coconut flour,chilli powder
fuse the spices.
add about 2 thirds of the base gravy, mix and reduce
Add the pre cooked chicken and Methi and mix in well
add the rest of the gravy, Lower the heat and simmer until the  sauce thickens
now add the garlic\chilli paste you made earlier, remainder of the chillies and garam masala
Simmer for 5 minutes, add coriander and serve.

The garlic\chilli sauce can be frozen, but I'm told the oil added to it preserves it?
The chillies I used in the garlic\chilli sauce are whole. A heaped teaspoon is a good starting point that isn't what non curry lovers would avoid, but you can add to your own taste, obviously. My curry nights consist of everyone wanting South Indian Garlic Chilli chicken and me trying to convince at least some people to try something else!
 Maybe some of you can recommend adjustment? add ingredients?

Thanks Gazman. Irvine is where I live m8, our TA's WISH they were Glasgow quality! they are, however heavily influenced by Glasgow style. I'll make an effort to get it posted tonight. I made it the other night so I could post a picture too, but forgot all about taking a picture till I'd started eating it cos it's so damn tasty! I took the pic though, minus a couple of mouthful's ;-) I'll post both later once I get the kids to bed. have you tried Bombay Blues? not quite the place it was in the 90's, but still serving good food. It's near central station.