Fi5H, hcool,
appreciate the info. i too use lots of garlic in general cooking. it may not be the amount but how/when its added - i'm not grasping at straws - there's is a definite difference in after taste from a TA dish c/w with my equivalent. adding extra "powdered" garlic at frying stage has not worked so far (i might not have added enough "extra") - hence my interest in adding more to the base and adding paste at frying stage.
hcool's madras should give me a better feel for which to try 1st.
ps 1 tsp of standard g/g ginger paste does not really have a lot of garlic in it. increasing the amount of g/g paste is not the answer either as the ginger goes out of balance in the dish. i use ashoka g/g paste but at 70:30 in favor of garlic (c/w 60:40 std).