ok a very complex question.

we are all not completely happy with our curries. many of us have reached maybe if lucky 90% a few maybe 95% but I do not believe anyone has reached 100% curry perfection.

I believe the reason for this is we do not completely understand the spices we use. we have grown up with mixed herbs, basil, parsley and thyme. in fact after watching all the Jamie oliver shows we know completely what these European herbs do

but my question is what does each spice bring to a meal?

why use turmeric? we all know it brings a nice yellow colour, right?

why use coriander? tastes nice but what does it bring to a dish?

why use methi? every recipe seems to use it but what does it do?

we all know that chilli powder brings heat but what else does it bring?

and lets not forget garam masala. this is a complete mixture most of us know very little about.

we seem to be playing with all these amazing spices but the truth is its all alchemy to us. maybe we need to step back and learn what they all do and how they add depth and flavour to a meal

we try and blame the base mix for our failings but most mixes are so similar. many spice mixes are very much the same. I honestly think the key is in the spices and how we mix them together

could it be down to just we use the wrong brands?

just my theory and wonder what you think?

ok so last night i decided to make a curry. armed with 6 big bottles of cobra and a nice mix of spices, base and some nice cooked chicken. i set about making a madras but i just got carried away. i thought why the hell not chucking the chilli powder in. i then thought hey lets chuck 2 teaspoons of naga paste in. it all seemed fine while cooking it. i sat down with some rice and a naan and ate it. this is an experience i never wish to have again. i refused to give up through tears running down my face and my mouth feeling like it was on fire. i had to fight for air through the hiccups. i even went dizzy (possibly the cobra)

this morning on waking i noticed a feeling i have never felt before. my stomach was on fire and mouth was burnt inside. i won't even try and explain the trip to the toilet but i was certainly singing ring of fire

i just want to know why do we feel the need to do it? what drives us to eat insanly hot chillies and curries?

i'm also curious of others experience of hot curries?

i could not agree more. i love rice. its such a great carb to mix with a curry. perfection. its very good for you and natural. i actually love brown rice.

beats pasta any day

i have always used garlic as though it was going out of fashion. the main reason my girlfriend hated it. but over the years i have noticed a massive change in it. it has certainly become less powerful. when you bite into a clove now it has very little taste. i believe the mass production for supermarkets has made it a rush growth item similar to strawberrys. the minute the reach size and weight it is harvested and sold. very hard to find good strong garlic now

would love to know what others think

i have about 150 plants growing at the moment and have found devon chilli very helpful and a very good company to deal with. they sell seeds, hot sauce and plants. and the best bit is they are cheap and no postage.
http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/

if you are in the hampshire area near me there is a woman at the bridgemary car boot sale every sunday that sells a massive selection of chillies, tomatoes and coriander. chilli plants .70 pence and ?1.20 for the nagas

https://www.facebook.com/#!/Yvonnes.Plants?fref=ts

struggling to link that so just do a search for yvonnes plants

a good friend i discuss curry with has just found the GM from rajah so much better than the natco. i will look into this

the truth is i think i am trying to run before i can walk. i am a very cook cook anyway and think i can just jump into this in a matter of moments. arrogance can bite you in the ass at times.

i have recently read an article about matching a mix to a base curry so the truth is i need to stop with the mix and match attitude. because i am not creating an exact copy of my take away i feel disappointed but he truth is it tasted really nice just not exactly what i had last week

i think maybe i just need to take a step back

the dhansak was ok, in fact i was very let down by it. i did everything the same as last week except i have a new spice mix and a new base. i used CBM base and ifindforu mix. i can only blame one of those to ingredients for the fail as last weeks was amazing. i feel i stepped back a bit

as for the pan and chef spoon i loved it. a very different way to cook but fun all the same. i need to learn heat control but it did get nice and hot. first attempt not my meal but someone elses was a steep learning curve as i put garlic into the onion infused oil and it spat everywhere, however they loved the meal

but phil i do cook curries every day

i'm up to day 9 now of eating curry. i just lost 3 and a half stone and sense it all comin back. please someone come up with a healthy low fat BIR......PLEASE

thankyou for your points.i bought large bags of everything and put it into airtight plastic containers and put it all into an airtight plastic storage box. probably over a 100 quids worth so now i am worried it might be stale......