Well I dusted off my 26 inch ally pan and got to work last night.
I used 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 2 tsp ifindforu spice mix, 500 ml ifindforu base and 3 very large cloves of garlic chopped by hand. I was aiming to cook enough curry for 2 modest portions. I used 6 tbs of oil and I must admit the photos make it look super oily when in fact after it was stirred it didn't look so oily.
Anyway I had the pan and oil hot before adding the chopped garlic. This cooked and went brown really quickly so I took off heat while I added the spices and salt and stirred hard back on high heat for probably 30 seconds or so before I chickened out and added 1 tbs tom puree mixed with 3 tbs water.

The result - the garlic was definitely overcooked but still edible. I didn't quite achieve the acrid smell from the chilli powder but at least the spices didn't taste burnt. It did taste hotter than I would expect for 2 tsp kashmiri and I think I got closer to BIR apart from the garlic flavour.
I'll adopt this way of cooking from now on but there is certainly some skill and judgement I need to learn now.
Cheers,
Paul