Unclefrank/curryhell,
many thanks. given what you say i think i'll add in the salt. after that i'll up the amount of garlic. i am very close to being sorted.
i've spent a lot of time trying to get the fried garlic right in the past without success until this video.
have had a quick bash at the garlic frying on my domestic hob which was interesting. the garlic pieces using the zaal method taste just as "bad" as i've experienced in the past. in fact it's quite amazing how bad they taste and a miracle how this changes to the complete opposite in the fried dish. this trying out on the hob suggested that it's not the oil, deglaze, temp or timing of the garlic cooking.
what i now think to be the case is that the salt causes the flavour to come out of the cooked garlic when it reheats in the main dish. time will tell.