Hard to believe, but Kris Dhillon is the closest.
It was a very simple, underspiced base
It tastes mainly of boiled onion, garlic, salt and a bit ginger
No chilli heat and not oily
I expect the oil had been ladled off.
I know it's been said before, but I think Kris Dhillons book is close to the truth.
It's just not explained very well
There are also very big differences between curry houses too.
So maybe you've never bought a curry, like you are trying to make.
I have been reading the rice recipes on this site
They produce very good home results, but they aren't like I have seen cooked.
Restaurant chefs use very little spice.

I bought a carton of curry gravy and some spice mix from a takeaway.
I've seen them make vindaloo many times, and wanted to see if mine turned out the same.
I heated 3 desertspoons of veg oil (not curry gravy oil) and cooked 3 desertspoons of tomato puree.
You need to keep this moving round the pan, with the back of the spoon.
Cook for a couple of minutes until it almost burns.
By this time, the oil is quite red
I added a pinch of fenugreek leaves and a teaspoon of spice mix
I stirred briefly, then added half the carton of curry gravy
You must keep stirring
This needs to get really hot and should be bubbling and spitting
If it's not this hot, you won't get the flavour.
With this heat, if you don't stir, it burns very quickly
After a couple of minutes I added some thawed frozen prawns.
I cooked on high,stirring, for five minutes
I added  the rest of the curry gravy, a desertspoon of spice mix, and a teaspoon of chilli powder.
Bubbled away for five minutes, stirring

That was it, and it was a match to what they cook
I had a bought curry with it, and my curry was in no way inferior
The curry gravy supplied was very soup like with no visible oil

I own the "Balti" and "Curry Magic" videos, and the problem, is the authors are unaware  home (restauant style) curries are missing a flavour.
Therefore, there is no attempt, to get round this problem.
If it wasn't for this "problem", this site wouldn't excist.
Most cr0 members, have failed to get results by all other means.
Those means being:- The Curry Secret, Pat Chapmans books and Video, Madhur Jaffrey, Balti Kitchen video/dvd, 100 best Baltis, Authentic Balti Curry, Korma Sutra restaurant book.
I have spent a small fortune.
This site contains more valid information, than anything I bought.

Thanks CP.
I will take more care with rice.
I cook pillau rice quite a bit ,and have found myself, looking closely at the spices.
They don't always look that clean.
The bay leaves, for instance, look decidely dodgy.
They have bits missing, dark blotches, uneven colours with the underside coated with what might be mould.

If you think about the origin of these spices, they can't be hygenic.
Birds live in bay leaf trees and they are dirty!
When we use cinnamon, that is the bark of a tree.
Who knows what has been on that!
Animals mark their territory, don't they?
I hope they use the bark from high up.
What about the cardamon pods, are they harvested from the tree or the ground?
How well are they cleaned?
All in all, we are doing very strange things, to some unusual ingredients!
Having said that, they do making very tasty meals.

Through ignorance, I have never observed any extra care, with cooking/reheating rice.
I had no idea there was any danger.
Sometimes, I've not put the cooked rice into the fridge until the next day
Having said that, I have never had food poisoning either.
I've always taken great care with prawns,chicken and meat.
But vegetables and rice I have just used one safeguard.
And that is:- if it tastes and smells good, then it's ok

On a slightly different note, the worst rice I have ever bought is broken basmatti.
It slips through the seive and seems very sticky to cook.
Anyone else bought that?
I was lured by it's cheap price, but NEVER again!!

Fantastic photos
I'm not sure if I have missed this, but what brand of Basmatti are you using?
I have have had very different results from various brands.
The cheapest rice seems to be almost impossible to clean.
It doesn't separate well either

Quote from: spicysarsy on November 21, 2006, 07:50 AM

"By the way, is the puri quite easy to cut once frozen?"

You need a  heavy kitchen knife and a wooden chopping board.
You are cutting through 4cm of puree!

I've never heard of anyone else doing this, but once opened, I  freeze it in a takeaway carton.
When required, I get the whole amount onto a chopping board, and cut off a slice.
I've had no ill effects.
I do this because the tomato puree, I buy, comes in large cans.
It's much cheaper this way too!

Not many places use ghee
Even the naans are brushed with KTC vegetable oil
Ghee is too expensive

I have never come across any restaurant or takeaway that uses garlic or ginger powder.
Probably, because fresh, is so cheap.
If I cook using garlic powder, it adds an extra something to the curry.
It fills the gap of the missing taste, we can't get.
The only place I ever heard of garlic powder, used in a curry, was from Pat Chapman's books.