The principle idea behind Jamie's School Dinners was to re-educate children to eat healthy alternatives with healthy being the principal goal. Given the budget that the state allows per child per meal, you could never produce a BIR or authentic curry with it. That's why I drew attention to it being from school dinners.
I do agree though, the state should pay more to feed our children and produce better food. What I found disappointing though, was that even with all the much better food available, the kids were still eating junk. Just to add insult to injury, parents were sneaking McDonalds to their kids in fear of them going hungry and they say its the kids that need educating!!!!!
I can tell you this much about that missing something, if it wasn't missing I wouldn't be on a curry quest. I, like you, am amazed that it is so hard to find the true secrets, perhaps there really is no real secret. But I know that i'll never cook a decent naan at home until I buy a Tandoor.
Stephen, and we even have a chip shop thread to go with Jamie's Pukka. ;D