Just an update to this one .. i now use a large bottle of passata instead of the tinned toms .. really makes a difference..

Just a quick update i now replace all my water with stock ..

I use either Rajah or TRS both give excellent results ..

It seems i waS on the right lines ages ago as i have been frying and adding methi leaves to My Base and curries for about 2 years now , though as someone did say previously in this thread its not the " toasty toffee " flavour .. it justs adds a little more BIR authenticity ..
oh also Kris if you read this try adding fried/toasted panch phoran (bengali spice mix)i think this is the last piece of the jigsaw ..
as to the toffee thing im 99% certain that is mainly down to flaming in the pan ...

I always use them in most of my curries and put some in my base .. but you are correct i havnt seen any evidence of them being used in BIR's .. but they definitely have "the taste" i find that frying them first releases the flavour ..

The more the better really ...

Not exactly boiled egg .. but my old haunt the shah jahan in ilkeston used to do
a chicken badshahi which was a devilishly hot number with egg on top .. though more like a layer of omlette .. it was bloody marvellous ..

I think that most BIR's dont brown the onions in the base but will flash fry an onion paste (or finely chopped) at initial stage of cooking the dish itself .. along with garlic/ginger paste .. then add base to that ..
the base is really just a spiced vegetable stock ..

dont ever install any software by mcaffee or norton ... horrendously bad sh*t ..
use avg free or avast