#19 base was cooking for hours.
Here a few interesting obeservation I made
1. main activity started around 9:30pm on the 2nd base (he already had the onion & stuff boiling for hours)
2. He removed 4 ladels full of floating oil and kept aside
3. He blended the base with a massive 'hand' blender - 15mins blending
4. Added a few jugs of water to the base as he blended - taking it close to the top of the pot.
5. He added the oil back in and stirred, kept the heat going at all times
6. He made a tarka.... about a pint of oil in a wok, chef spoon of garlic, ginger, and spices 3->8 and 14.
7. Once fried for a couple of mins, added this straight to the base and stirred. left it boiling away for another hour before I gave up due to eye strain ;-)
could this be the secret ?