Hi Pete

As with most things to do with Indian food, there is no simple answer to your first question.

The most popular curry powder will often depend on region. The 3 biggest players are East End, Natco and TRS - forget Rajah, while it may have a large presence in ASDA (and probably not for much longer) it is not recognised by Asian chefs as "authentic" and also costs more than the other Asian brands. Problems with Sudan Red 1 last year has meant the trade has given Rajah a wide berth.

TRS is big in the South East, East End is big up North and Natco is fairly evenly spread throughout the UK. Ignore anyone who says dont buy from supermarkets - if they mean supermarket own label products then I would agree - only inferior quality spices are used for these and they are often cut with wheat or rice flour which reduces the flavour intensity (supermarket buyers know nothing). However, any of the Asian brands sold in supermarkets ARE the real thing and are the same as any brand sold in Asian corner shops. In fact those sold in supermarkets are most likely to be the best of those sold in Asian corner shops. Of course you will find other brands but most Asian customers buy on price and it is these brands that use trade tricks to keep prices down - cutting turmeric with rice flour or adding colouring powder to bulk it up etc. As with everything you get what you pay for - dont buy cheap spices.

The big 3 all produce catering and wholesale packs of curry powder. Most spice producers for the UK Asian market will all produce bags of spice in 1kg, 2kg, and 5kg sizes - just because they have big bags of spice in their trolleys does not mean they are restaurant owners! Most Asian families will consume several kilos of spice in a month.

In my experience, Natco and East End curry powders are used by the quality restaurants (if used at all) and TRS by the lower end. However, a lot of restaurants wont use curry powder as it is made up from basic spice ingredients already used in the restaurant - making up a batch is easy and cheaper that buying the ready mixed powder - also curry powder is not really an authentic spice mix and a lot of chefs will simply mix their own to taste.

So the short answer to your first question (in my experience )is East End and Natco.

With regard to garam masala - yes it is used in restaurants and often as a replacement for curry powder! There are hundreds of recipes for garam masala and every chef has his own. It is most often used as a finishing spice added at the very end of the cooking process to add a bit of extra umpf to the dish. The most commonly used ready mixed garam masala will probably be by Natco as those chefs who use ready mixed will want the best and Natco brand is well recognised for its garam masala.

Hi

came into this one a bit late but I am speaking from experience because I know the guy that owns the SWAD brand well. SWAD is a large and genuine Indian brand of various Indian foods which for commercial reasons does not export to the UK. However it does huge business with the USA and Middle East because of  arrangements with 2 agencies, Patel Bros (Raja) and Natco. It is the same company that also supplies Natco with its Sitar range of microwave meals and Tesco with micrwave rices - yes its that big.

Butter ghee is generally not used for cooking in UK Indian restaurants (cost). The oil most used is plain vegetable oil - mainly Pride brand.  Ghee is mainly used in home cooking as a flavouring for naan breads (brushed on hot) and for a few curry dishes for added flavour and aroma (sometimes for frying rice ie pilau) and also for sweets and puddings. The flavour is far superior to vegetable ghee (its the butter vs margarine argument) and veg ghee is merely a cheaper substitute. Also because butter ghee is high in fats veg ghee is also often used as a "healthier" substitute but it can contain all sorts of other rubbish that is just as bad for you (butter vs margarine again).

Butter ghee is basically unsalted butter which has been clarified and all the milk solids and water removed. It exists because unlike butter it does not require refrigeration to keep fresh and is therefore ideal for hot countries. It can also be cooked at very high temperatures without burning unlike butter.

Ghee may solidify slightly if kept cold but it does not require skimming or shaking, just use it straight from the tin.

Hope that helps some.

I'm new here and you probably all know this anyway

My favourite ingredients site:

http://www.natco-online.com

nuff said.