I have to agree with you Curry King.
         And in answer to a question we all ask "why does it taste hot after Ive eaten it" ?

Busy today.Perfect boiled rice.
    PURE BASMATI RICE.(use anything else & i will nail your mouth open & stuff you with long grain rice ,bit like a stuffed marrow ;D ;D)
   1. Get you pan & put in the amount of rice you need .
   2. Boil a kettle,pour boiling water over rice, stir immediately,bring to boil on cooker.
   3. Turn down heat to steady simmer as soon as it starts to boil.
   4. Keep STIRRING & tasting (you actually testing the rice to see how cooked it is).
   5. A soon as its still slightly crispy in the center(this part you need to learn from experience but what you are trying to do is get to the point were by the time you have taken from the heat rinsed in cold water it will be cooked right through with the residual heat in the rice)
   Between parts 4 & 5 i add 2 STAR ANISE,4 CLOVES,4 CARDAMOM PODS ,4 PIECES OF CASSIA BARK (about amount that would equate to the STAR ANISE in weight) & 2 BAY LEAVES.
   The biggets thing i have learned (& i cook rice 4/5 a week) is you never boil rice as by the time you think its cooked it carries on cooking until you cool it down ,so you always miss that point.also i find Basmati rice cooks so well .i use it for my Chinese & experimental dishes.
         IT IS THE KING OF RICE !! 

Ive made a Phall with 25 Birds eye chillies, 2 Scotch Bonnets & half a tub of extra hot Vindallo powder was able to breath but.Eating it was much like burrowing through the earths core scooping a mouthfull of hot Magma chewing it 20 times? then nailing your mouth to a salty hot plate !!
And no i do not make them that hot it was a one off.Bit like the time i ate a raw scotch bonnet "BLOODY HELL".The early years of a young
DARTHPHALL were arduous & painfull .But now i am the master.As DarthVader said " your Vindallo powders are weak old man ". ;D ;D

OK HERE`S THE CURRY & RESULT(Ive eaten it all so none for you Ghanna ).
? Makes good copy of vindalloo/tindallo(down here in Cornwall )
INGREDIENTS.
1. 1 PORTION CURRY BASE(0.75 PINT 425ML).
2. 2 LARGE SPANISH ONIONS.
3. 1 MEDIUM CARROT(6"? ).
4. 1 WHOLE GARLIC BULB.
5. 1 0Z / 25G FRESH GINGER.
6.? 500 ML VEG.. OIL.
7. 400G TIN TOMATOES.
8. TABLESPOON TOMATOE KETCHUP.
9. TABLESPOON TOMATOE PUREE.
10.BIRDS EYE CHILLIES(BETWEEN 12 / 15) TOO MANY CAN CHANGE THE FLAVOUR.
11. HALF TEASPOON FENUGREEK.
12. 3 DESERT SPOONS EXTRA HOT CHILLI POWDER.(MUST NOT BE THE BROWN CRAP YOU GET FROM SUPERMARKETS AS ITS NOT HOT &
? ? ? EFFECTS THE OVERALL FLAVOUR, USE BRIGHT RED/ORANGE FROM GOOD SHOP =SPICEOLOGY ON EBAY IS VERY GOOD.)
13. HALF TEASPOON SALT.
14. 3 LARGE CHICKEN BREASTS(HE SAID BREASTS !!? )
15. 1 TEASPOON GROUND CUMIN.
16. 1 TEASPOON GROUND CORIANDER.
17. 1 TEASPOON OF GOOD QUALITY GROUND GARAM MASALA.(SPICEOLOGY AGAIN? !!)
18. 2 WHOLE STAR ANISE.
19. FRESH CORIANDER.
20. HALF TEASPOON TURMERIC.
METHOD.
1.Roughly chop onions,garlic, ginger,chillies & carrot.(keep separate).
2. Fry onions in 500ml oil (until BROWN not golden now they`re bloody sweet? ).
3. Add to onions chillies, garlic, ginger, carrot,tin tomatoess, tomatoe ketchup & tomatoe puree.
4. Bring to boil then cook low 10 minutes.Whilst adding a mug of hot water & 1 portion base mix.
5. Allow to cool then puree till smoooooth? !!!!
6. Now add the 2 Star Anise,Cumin,Coriander,Chillie powder,Garam Masala & Fenugreek.
7. Bring to boil then turn down heat to simmer, the oil will now start to separate again.
8. Keep simmering for about 10/15 minutes.Add tablespoon fresh Coriander ,allow to cool.
?
? IMPORTANT= EAT NEXT DAY!!(It has been touched on in this forum & i have to 100% agree ,with all the cooking spices ect.. your ability to
? taste is greatly impaired.

CHICKEN.
1.Dice chicken breasts put in pan of boiling water add turmeric turn down heat & cook until cooked right through, then drain & put in above curry
. ;D ;D.
? RICE.
? No one has mentioned about the bed of fragrant(& sweet ) rice there curries rest on i think it is important to capture "that taste"
? i have tried with & without & with is a whole lot more nicer & (sweeter) in the rice are Cardamom pods,Cassia bark,Cloves,Star Anise, Bay leaves
? & a Little coconut.I have bought a curry & had it without rice & find it ok but amazing when combined with the rice & since coming to this
conclusion have been very successfull in emulating my local take-away`s.
?
? RESULT.Of above recipe last night.
This tasted just like my local take-aways but oddly did not smell exactly the same ,i`ve had this before (not this recipe,but one very similar)
? were its smelled exactly
? the same but not tasted ,i have that recipe in my curry log , I'm going to experiment & combine both & see if have the holy grail,will post next
? weekend the result of my work.
? Again bear with me i have never contributed to a forum so i am new to it all so go easy on the criticism, we all want the same thing & by
? collating all information i am positive we`ll get it right & soon !!
   
   
? ?

Ok here`s a link http://stores.ebay.co.uk/SPICEOLOGIE 

Blondie & all members.
The fresh ground Garam Masala can be bought from a lady called Kamilla who has a shop on E-bay called SPICEOLOGIE .

She has also got friend in a take-away & is going to try & get a base recipe for me. ;D

a tip from her =put a teaspoon of Garam Masala in your curry in the last 5 min of cooking.haven't tried it yet,but will.Funny enough last time i bought a take-away curry there was unmixed white powder on the surface, it was garlic powder.
Also Coriander is best left till last.
Have you ever noticed how strong & fragrant uncooked spices are(we all have the best smelling spice cupboards in the world !!). ;D
so if your trying to capture that take-away flavour perhaps you need to sprinkle a little spice at the last moment.
Star anisse gives that little something & add sweetness, all my locals use it.
Turmeric is left out allot ,but again all my locals use it,there is nothing else that stains everything soooooo well !!
Having got so close to getting the take-away flavour I'm 100% sure that you don't need sugar brown or white to give that sweet taste.

Below is the curry base witch i have had the best results from.
       I believe its simplicity makes it so successful a curry gravy.
       It comes from "The Curry Secret" by Kris Dhillon.Yes allot of you have read it but some may have not.i have made slight alterations with method,but have no effect
       on the end result.

                And its about time i started to contribute to this forum,by the way it is the best !!!!
   INGREDIENTS.
   2LB (900g) COOKING ONIONS.
   2oz (50g) GREEN GINGER.
   2oz (50g) FRESH GARLIC CLOVES.
   2.75 PINT (1 LITRE 570ml) WATER.
   1 TEASPOON SALT.
   1 TIN (400 g ) TOMATOES.
   8 TABLESPOONS VEG OIL.
   1 TEASPOON TOMATOE PUREE.
   1 TEASPOON TURMERIC.
   1 TEASPOON PAPRIKA.
   
   METHOD.
   1. peel & roughly chop onions, ginger & garlic.
   2. blend until smooth ginger & garlic in 0.5 pint (275 ml ) water.
   3. put onions ,blended garlic & ginger in large saucepan & remaining water.
   4. add salt bring to the boil, turn down heat to a low simmer for 40-45 minutes ,leave lid on.
   5. when time is up leave to cool.
   6. blend all the curry base until completely smooooooth !!
   7. blend until smooooth the tin of tomatoes (yes take them out of the tin first !!)
   8. put the oil, tomtoe puree, turmeric, paprika & blended tomtoes in large saucepan, bring to boil,turn down heat & cook for ten minutes.then add to blended
   onion mix,  bring to the boil again,turn down heat allow to simmer on a heat that allows you to skim sauce without it splattering everywhere,
   you will know that fine line on your own cookers as it varies.
   9. as it simmers away you`ll notice a froth rising to the surface,you need to skim this of & keep doing so for 20-25 minutes,keep stirring as to stop sauce sticking
   to pan.
   10. leave to cool .
   11.you can now freeze . split into 425ml (0.75 pint) portions. I double everything & end up with 8 portions.each portion is capable of making 4 Indian
   take-away size portions.or 2 for me !!
   i have tried all the bases on this forum but have had best results with this.
   I ve got a very good result last night & will post the curry itself later.

Dedication = I have recently started keeping a log of every curry i make & write down every ingredient & method variation. "THE CURRY MADE ME DO IT !!" 

Going to give this a go as its close to the recipe that gave exact smell of my local take-away curries.will go for green pepper.looked at your pics licked the monitor screen  MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! FEW MORE KILO`S OF EXTRA HOT CHILI POWDER & several pints of Pepsi & its hogs heaven  ;D ;D ;D ;D .thanks for you inspiration curry king.

BLONDIE    i`ll ask my friend if it would be OK to post her shop on this site ,do i have to ask the admin of this site also i wonder ,don't worry either way you`ll get it soon you lucky devil !! ;D