I always used to add powdered spices to the dish I was cooking in the dry state.

Then I  was told to premix the powders into a paste with water to prevent burning of the spices and I can say that the resulting taste was better.

I have also read that you can mix with some oil beforehand.

Any comment on whether the use of oil is preferable to water and does it enhance the flavour further?

I was also told to leave the paste to stand to allow all the water to be absorbed.

Swampy

When making a curry dish I always just throw a few pinches of the spices into the hot oil right at the beginning of the cooking process, you can always add a tablespoon of cold water as well...this always gets the spices going...keep stirring though or they will burn.

You can always keep adding tablespoons of base sauce whilst the spice aromas are being released....this also helps stop them burning.

S

Swampy, water cracks spices so my recommendation use very little or none at all if possible.  Premixing with some oil to make a paste similar to double cream is preferable and should be left over night to blend (stir now and again).  I disagree with Stew on adding spice powders to hot oil in that stirring will stop burning; it won't.  Warm the oil on medium heat to between 80c and 100c, remove from heat and stir in the spices until oil has cooled a bit, then return to medium heat and add base or whatever is next (usually tomatoes and yoghurt in my case).  However this is a process I rarely use and I think it is a no no in BIRs.

CP

The BIRs I have witnessed first hand use dry

Their process is to add tomato paste to the hot oil followed by the spices, one chef I spoke to said the tomato pastes main job at that point is to stop the spices burning

Exactly Mark, but also to give depth of flavour.  A lot of European chefs use tomato past to bring out the flavours in their dishes and also gravies.

I've only ever been into a real BIR kitchen twice and that was over twenty years ago, but they just shoveled a bit of each spice onto their chefs spoon and added it dry. Since then I've seen countless snatches of real BIR cooking on various foodie programmes and without fail they have always been using dry powdered spices, straight into the pan. So I think it is clearly a well used technique and I would guess it is probably the predominant technique.

It wouldn't surprise me if the water/spice paste technique was introduced by Pat Chapman to the general masses. But I think he only does it as a way of avoiding burning the spices.

YF