So am I doing this all wrong?
Les
No idea Les. I haven't seen you cooking mate.

I start lots of curries off with chopped onions and green pepper (after frying the garlic paste). Shouldn't be any problems cooking the powders after this for say, a madras, providing the oil is hot enough. Can cook/singe/burn the spices quite happily. If the oil isn't hot enough the onions tend to soak it up, and that can be bad news. There are generally none in my ex-hot efforts, too much powder, and not really a requirement for the dish. I just think, as many have said previously, it is essential to cook the spices "properly". Otherwise the curry will be lacking in terms of flavour and, worse case scenario, some of the chilli powder remains raw. As we all know, even 2 tsp of uncooked chilli powder can be a nightmare. My view is that the main cooking of the spices should be done at the start of making the curry, in the oil, with as little added liquid(s) as possible. Others may have differing opinions on this, but when large amounts of chilli powder are involved there can be no debate, I think.
I find spiced oil/stock from veg pre-cooks handy as the flavours won't take over lamb (or chicken) dishes. The base gravy I use doesn't include cassia, cardamom, asian bay, etc. I rely on the pre-cooks for introducing these flavours/aromas, which I believe are essential for many BIR dishes. This arrangement seems to work quite well for me, enabling control of how much whole spice yummyness goes into any particular dish. So, for example, the pre-cooked lamb includes black cardamom. The spiced oil/stock from this is heady stuff, have to be careful with it, which is why if I think a bit more "oil" is needed for a curry, oil from the veg pre-cook is a better option, sometimes.
Anyway, what's with all these questions? I consider myself very much a novice.
Rob