Just wanted to add my own recommendation to this recipe. I made it with skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks, both on the bone, and skinned it and picked it off the bone as I ate. I cooked the onions for about 40 minutes then let the meat simmer for about an hour since I wasn't in a hurry and served it with a plate of rice. I found the sauce very rich and almost creamy and the meat delicious. For the record, I used (the last of!) chewytikka's mix powder.

Further up the thread, I saw someone threw in some potatoes - I can certainly see that working very well and might try adding some myself if I ever to make it extra filling.

Thanks Chris for posting the recipe!

Thanks everyone for the very warm welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the suggestions on the all-purpose spice mix. For the recipe I've tried so far, chewytikka suggested a particular spice blend which was actually quite cheap and easy to produce. I'll certainly keep my eye out for others, though.

I'm still learning at this and I don't want to stray too far from the recipes the wise folks here suggest, in case I end up ruining a good meal!

I'll be interested to hear what everyone else thinks works best, though.

Hey all,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while, but the limited page views as a guest finally pushed me to join. As a true-born Brit, I've always appreciated a good curry and I've always wondered exactly what it is that makes that distinctive taste we find in Indian restaurants. Like a lot of people, I spent ages looking for the secret and tried all kinds of 'one-stage' recipes. A lot of them were very nice, but they didn't have that particular taste.

I found a link to chewytikka's base sauce and madras recipe somewhere on the internet and was intrigued by the idea of having a pre-prepared base sauce. I finally got around to trying the madras recipe a month or so ago and I was blown away by the results. I'm not a great cook and I even had to compromise on some of the ingredients, but I found it was astonishingly close to the "real thing". Clearly, you guys know what you're talking about.

I'm looking forward to trying out other curry recipes in the future and branching out into rices, sides and breads.

If anyone has any suggestions on good "next steps" after chewy's madras, I'd love to hear them; the sheer volume of expertise on this site makes it pretty daunting!
 
In any case, while I'm afraid I don't have a lot to offer you all here and might not post all that often, I'm looking forward to being here a lot as a spectator... and I appreciate the time and effort that all of you have put in who have posted recipes. You're truly doing God's work, gentlemen.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some curry base to defrost for dinner.