I had "The Truth About Food" on in the background while I was working. The programme itself is pretty poor but they had a bit about super-tasters which peaked my interest. It seems that, on average, 25% of us are super-tasters, i.e. they have more taste buds. The significance is that super-tasters perceive tastes more intensely.
This could explain why some people here believe that their curries have achieved the "taste", while others, the super-tasters, are left feeling dejected at not being able to get that taste with exactly the same recipe. There's a test you can do here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2880471.stmIf you do the test post your taste type here and also whether you believe you've cracked the curry "taste" we are looking for. Should be interesting.
YF