It's difficult to say if the minor changes I applied to Chewy's basic approach added much. I'd really need a side by side comparison. What I can say though is the slightly adapted base produces a great curry. So as it's not much extra effort to boil up some whole spices, and as it probably does add an extra layer of flavour complexity, I'm going to stick with it.

Today I cracked Rogan Josh (1990's Bradford). Happy days.

I just came across the The Takeaway Secret, first 32 pages for free on the internet (not difficult to find with a quick search). Those first pages do contain the Big Mac & special sauce. Went out to buy the necessary French's brand mustard, iceberg, double bun, etc. and had my first attempt last night. Even before tasting, I knew this was a winner. Wow, almost exactly the same, I've never created anything like that before. I found the sauce a bit too mayonnaise-y, and the raw onion a bit overpowering, so I know what to adjust for attempt #2. It's really not hard if you follow the recipe to the letter. I'm amazed I can now replicate a Big Mac. The wife was impressed too, a bit depressed actually concidering the implications.

Fries next. Already well down the sugar no sugar debates.

My recent experience of cooking thawed frozen balls...  best results achieved when warmed higher than room temperature before cooking. When defrosted then left 5+ hours at room temp, they came out a bit like a leavened chapati (tasting like a naan). When given a bit of a temp boost, they came out close to those freshly cooked. Basically the balls must feel to have bloated and softened before you start to cook. In my case, I sat them above the fire for a bit. Must be wrapped in cling film to prevent drying.

Thanks Les. It's done. I should have called this thread "Festive curry". I ran with the 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves, 1 inch peice of cinnamon, and I added a couple of prongs from a star anise. I boiled some sultanas in seperate water and added the above to the sultana water about 30 seconds before I added the lot to the pan (just as I turned down to a simmer). I kept the aromatic theme with cumin a big part of the spice mix (50/50 with curry powder), ginger an increased proportion of the g/g mix, and garam masala near the end with fresh corriander.

It turned out well, but not spectacular. I feared one of the additions might come through too strong but it was not the case, athough I think I could easily increase the cardamom more than any of the others. I decided not to add any cream or coconut, but it might have benefitted, as it was on the salty side and that clashed with the aromatics. Mental note, less salt in sweeter curries. I also think it's best suited to chicken. Always learning  .

My oven(s) let me down big style I'm afraid. I simply have no way to char. In any case, I can see the strong potential of this recipe. It certainly beats tandoori masala on its own. Given all the extra additions, I was surprised how strong the tandoori masala flavour came through. Salt & chilli levels were good. If I'll change one thing, it will be to reduce the quantity of lemon juice. That said, the juice I use must be strong, as I've suffered with other recipes also. I know what I use is much stronger than freshly squeezed lemon juice, so the reduction is personal to my ingredients.

I will never again use a Pataks paste. As soon as I taste that twang it spells "homemade rubbish" for me. Only once in my life, about 10 years ago, have I ever tasted that twang in a restaurant and I still talk about how shocked I was. I know there are restaurants that do use Pataks, particularly Kashmiri Masala Paste (which I've never bought myself, so can't comment on), but I've certainly never tasted the Pataks twang in a Bradford BIR, and would never return to a restaurant where I do. I'm quite sure the addition of the Patak's paste would have rendered this recipe awful for my taste, and my substitution and the result I achieved proved great for me, bringing me forward. I think you can probably tell I don't really worry about the omission.