My main pan in all its glory:

Can you give me an idea of what to look for (i.e. photos)?  I do have a set of very nice heavy-bottomed stainless steel pots (including the griddle I use for roasting spices), but they are not the sort of shape I consider suitable for cooking curries.  As I said, my primary cooking pan right now is a large deep non-stick frying pan, and I would like to replace it with something better.

The major constraint is that I often have to cook for 6 people, so I am usually doing double quantities of recipes and making huge amounts of food.  Small pans don't cut it around here!   I would really love to get something I can slow cook with on gas and maintain even heat distribution, even over low flame.

That ain't right ;D

I recently made a shrimp curry from a Madhur Jaffrey book that was a lot like this one, and it was quite tasty.  10 minutes for shrimp seems a bit excessive, though I suppose they are pretty big.

Er, that's right, I need to pay more attention ;D  VINDALOO, what do you use them for?

Isn't vegetable ghee just vegetable fat that's made to taste and look like usli ghee?  According to wikipedia, it's actually not all that healthy, just cheap.  I guess that explains why they sell it in huge tubs at the Indian grocery store I shop at.  I mostly cook with safflower oil, but I do use proper ghee for some recipes.

Do you use any sort of "heat spreading" attachment for simmering on the gas range?  I love cooking with gas, but when it comes to slow cooking beef curries for hours, results are sometimes not good because the small area of the pan covered by the flame.  I think I've seen attachments to spread the heat, sort of like wok rings I suppose.  Anyway, I'm sure it would help if my primary cooking pan was nicer.

CurryCanuck, those karais look great!  What do you use them for?  Can I ask where you got them?

What exactly does everyone use for cooking curry?  I have read great things about the traditional cast iron "kadai", but there is really not much information to be found about it on the internet.  Also, if you can find them for sale, they are pretty much all little tiny ones, or industrial manufacturers who want to sell in large batches.  Not too promising!  However, I just came across a place in the US that sells various Indian cookware, including large cast iron kadais.  Check it out here: http://www.nishienterprise.com/Iron-Kadai-for-frying-p/iron-kadai-18.htm (they also do a 24" for $99).

I am sorely tempted to order one of these, but cast iron cookware can be of variable quality.  I like the look of the "Lodge" cast iron stuff, but everything they make that I'm interested in is unavailable right now.  At the moment I am mostly using a deep non-stick pan for most of my curry cooking, transferring to a cast iron Dutch oven for stuff that requires baking.  I have a really heavy-bottom stainless steel skillet I use for roasting spices.  I tried a really cheap wok from Ikea a little while ago, and as expected it was pretty much crap, but I can see how a nice thick cast iron pot of similar shape would be useful for cooking Indian food.

So, what does everyone else use?

Sort of reminds me of these: http://www.bombaylimited.com/Wet-Grinder-269-1.html, though it seems somewhat more advanced.  They are used more for grinding idli batter and stuff like that.  The benefit of the "mixie" type machines is that they can do small quantities of wet grinding when you need to make pastes for curries and such.  I think I will go ahead and order the Relin, so expect a report back soon!

I think I will just order the Relin, I'm sure it can't be that bad.  Now just wait a few days for me to come back tearing my hair out

I am pretty set on the "mixie" type mixer/grinder, it's just that there is almost no information whatsoever available on the internet.