OK, firstly, what a great site. I have been trying to emulate a BIR ruby for years and had some good results. All of the currys I have cooked from scratch in the past have not used a separate base, and try as I might, they were never quite there. So for me, I think the base is probably the critical ingredient and should not be messed around with to much.
I used Darth's recipe for my first attempt as it seems to be the most popular one here, and i must say the results were the closest thing I have tasted to a BIR curry that hasn't come through my front door already cooked.
Here's some pics I took along the way.....it seems I even managed to keep the camera straight when the lager was taking effect in the latter stages.......
The base was scaled down by half. This is because of the size of the pot I was using. For me, I don't think this made a difference. I also missed out the chilli powder as I wanted the base for different types of curry in the future.
The Madras ingredients I tweaked slightly. Instead of using chilli powder I used 4 Birdseye chillies and instead of grating the garlic I crushed it. I also added some lemon juice as this gives the curry a nice fresh taste.
The other key thing to making it taste like a BIR is briefly boiling the chicken (always wondered how they got it so tender)instead of frying it which I have always done in the past.
Will post the recipe for my pilau when I get the chance.... ;D