In my local takeaway the have a pot of red sauce that looks like tandoori marinade aswell as the normal spice mixtures, they also have a large margarine/ice cream tub of pre cooked onions possibly fried in turmeric.
I don't know what the red sauce is, but i've seen them add it to most dishes, it could just be tomato and yoghurt and paprika??? ( I just dont know )
But the precooked onions may hold a key to the smell and taste that we've been searching for, in prev msg's weve talked about Tarka dhall holding the key, but if you leave out the lentils then you have a good mixture of pre cooked onions to add to your curry at the first stages. not only that but we've all noticed the smell wafting down the street hours before the takeaways/restaurants have opened...
so it seems that we could just be overlooking the obvious, since this is only the main part of the preperation they need to do before they open and it is the used in most curry's...there by you'll be getting the smell all night long........ so what do they use to prepare there onions? any ideas.
this is just what i've noticed in my fav local BIT, others around me don't taste as good, but i cannot create the taste from this one!