Why do restaurant curry dishes taste better than home made curry?

[Secret Santa]

I have to agree about the secret ingredient not existing. We've all seen multiple videos shot inside British Indian restaurants and that chefs use the spices we all know too.

You're right, there are many videos around now, but they represent the lacklustre curries from the nineties onwards. And, yes, anyone can replicate those from recipes on this forum so there's no secret ingredient. But compared to the curries I had in the very late seventies and early eighties, well the 90s onwards curries are poor in comparison, lacking both the aroma and unique flavour they used to have back then. It isn't just me saying this by the way. My friends from back in that time all agree and bemoan the generally awful standard of today's curries and long for that missing taste and aroma.

Now you're right in the sense that there are no literal secret ingredients but that doesn't mean there are not ingredients that were used back then that have fallen out of use and so we are unaware of, which makes them sort of secret ingredients. It's no coincidence that curry quality dropped from the early nineties on just as a proliferation of curry houses occurred and the increased competition forced budget cutting so as to remain competitive and stay in business. Something had to give and unfortunately it was the quality of curry.

To be honest, it's somewhat galling to have to read with regularity someone on this forum claiming that there's no missing 5% or whatever when they mostly don't even qualify to comment as their curry eating experience only goes back two or three decades. Think of it this way, say your only experience of eating cheese is those Frankenstein American burger cheese slices. So that's your reference level. But I've eaten a quality extra-mature cheddar cheese which, for arguments sake, let's say is no longer available. How do I convince you that there was a better cheese and convey to you just how lacklustre that burger cheese is in comparison?

So I'll tell you, as fact, that from experience there is either a missing ingredient or ingredients, or a missing technique, or some combination of the two, to obtain curries as they used to be. And, no, it ain't beer!

[Secret Santa]

One possibility could be the quality / freshness of the spices they are able to obtain due to their higher turnover.  Perhaps buying commercial quantity packages is key to obtaining the best quality and freshest spices.  I guess you could go and buy a set of new (fresh???) spice packs and do side by side comparison with what you already have in the spice cupboard.  Cook the exact same dish with old and new spice to see if it changes much.

The right way to do it would be to buy the spices whole and as fresh as possible and grind them just before making the curry. I did this some forty years ago now and made a side by side comparison with pre-ground but fresh spices and I couldn't detect any distinct difference in the finished curries so never fresh-ground spices again. And really, as long as you're not using spices that are months old, I just don't think freshness is an issue.

[Robbo141]

I agree the takeaways today seem to pale in comparison to how I remember my first dishes back in the UK in the late 70's and 80s.  My dad introduced me to chicken madras, keema pilau rice, onion salad and popadoms at the age of 10 in 1977. (I'm 54, been eating curry more than a couple of decades).  I never was disappointed in a curry in my early years but when I visit the UK these days, I often get a vindaloo I think is just 'meh'.  It's doubly disappointing because I only visit once a year (not in the past almost 3, thank you Covid), and I really, REALLY look forward to BIR and to have it less than anticipated is a killer.
Indian dishes will always be a staple for me, but my days as Indian(a) Jones and the Lost Whatever are long gone. I just accept that I can cook a decent dish and occasionally, very occasionally I get a result that could've come from a takeaway.

[livo]

Well, I have to say that last night was one of those rare occasions when everything just fell into place, and I was able to produce a first-class dish.  I did nothing out of the ordinary, followed a recipe and then my instinct and the result was superb.  Nothing missing on this one.  It's happened before, albeit rarely and I still scratch my head and think, how does this happen.

I cooked Chicken Tikka Masala using Misty Ricardo's Volume 1 recipe with no exceptions or omissions aside from not using red food colouring and the very last addition was my own instinct.  The Chicken Tikka I used was the last of the Sunil Singh Chicken Tikka I'd cooked in the Tandoor a few days ago and the base gravy was MDB's Balti gravy.  Once the dish was fully prepared and on "keep warm" under a lid, I sprinkled it lightly with new fresh Kasoori Methi. The finished dish was lacking nothing that I'd normally hope for in a restaurant dish.  I doubt it will be better today.

Now I just need to find out what it was in cooking this dish that I'm not doing in the others.  Is it the almond and coconut meal?

Santa, I agree with you about the spices. I was just trying to consider what could be contributing factors.  I've taken to grinding my own Cumin and Coriander seeds and I find that I prefer it to the fine powder.