hello,

when i've been making my curries without a base sauce, just using passata, i've cooked on low heat on the order of about 2 hours.  this made the meat very soft and tender.

i'm going to try darth's madras tonight and i'm surpised to see that after the chicken and passata are added the curry is only cooked for about 10 minutes.  how does this affect the taste?  i know from cooking italian food that tomatoes are greatly affected by cooking time and become sweeter and darker the longer they're cooked.

anyone have any opinions or experience about this?  slow cooking the curry?

in your experience, how much of a difference does it make when using freshly ground spices as opposed to powders sitting on the shelf for a while.

i know with coffee the difference is night and day.  there's nothing like the aroma and flavour of freshly ground coffee in my opinion, but do i stand to benefit as much when using freshly ground spices in my curry?

Hi there!

I'm a Canadian currently working in Poland.  In Canada i grew up in a neighbourhood dominated by Sikhs, so I've enjoyed access to inexpensive curry for most of my life.

However, now in Wrocław, Poland, not a single Indian restaurant.  Some Chinese, Italian, but Indian hasn't made its way here yet.

A friend of mine here was a chef in England, and has showed me how to make some basic curry before he left, but I'm craving more.

I have access to most spices here from a great shop, but no pastes, no jarred brand name stuff, so I hope that you guys will be able to help me with some advice, some substitutions and some workarounds!