Hi meggeth, how you fry/singe your spices is entirely up to you, all I am saying is that by adding a little water (from boiled kettle) to the spices it singes the spices and you can tell they are cooking, I tried it without adding the water and you cannot tell how hot the spices are because of the onion,chilli,garlic, ginger toms in the pan that have soaked up the oil, and many times the spices were undercooked or overcooked, this has produced my best results , give it a go see what you think

Hi Mike,

Yes I tried gently frying spices, not frying them at all (Dipuraja style), but I found the best results came from singing the spices by adding a little water (cant remember which jalfrezi recipe I got that from), but I do believe the cooking of the spices is key to achieving BIR taste.

I made this Madras for the Mrs last night and she said hands down it beat any other Madras I have made!! and I always take other peoples opinions over my own as I was curried out by time I ate, shame there was none left for today!!

Hi used admin new base and abdul spice mix

Excellent can I have this for my breakfast please !

 Hi Stephen Ha ha I was a little more generous with the pakoras, there was another 8 of them !! but the picture was just for show , it didnt look as good with more bhajis on the plate !! The bhajis were fantastic I have posted the recipe on the forum

After weeks of trials and tribulations I have finally cracked it. I made my Madras last night and it was absolutely perfect, heat,flavour,moreishness,texture,consistency, everything was there, please give it a go.

Note: all spoon measures are level

THE ULTIMATE MADRAS (FINAL EDITION)

            1 - Star Anise
        2 Tb - Onion (finely chopped)
            2 - Thin green chilli
      3/4 ts - Hot Chilli Powder
      3/4 ts - Deggi Mirch
      3/4 ts - Kashmiri Chilli Powder
         1 ts - Mix Powder
         1 ts - Fenugreek Leaves (rubbed between fingers)
         1 ts - Cumin Powder
         3 ts - Lemon Dressing
            3 - Garlic cloves
            1 - Ginger (size of 1 clove garlic)
        3 Tb - Tinned Toms
        1 Tb - Coriander Stalks (finely chopped)
      1/4 ts - Salt
            4 - drops of worcester sauce
  1/2 -1 ts - Sugar
        6 Tb - Reclaimed oil
       350ml - Base sauce
       Fresh coriander leaf

Finely chop onions and  green chilli and blend with a little water
Finely chop ginger garlic and blend with a little water
Blend tinned tomatoes

Gently heat oil and add star anise then add onion/chilli and cook gently until colouring slightly and the onion has become sweeter (5-10mins)
Add garlic/ginger , remove star anise, and cook through for 2 mins
Add toms and cook through then turn up heat
Add chopped coriander stalks
Add Methi stir
Add mix powder stir, chilli powders, cumin stir and the add a little boiling water and stir/shake until spices are singed (30 seconds)
Add ladle of base  and reduce a little till oil has seperated
Add lemon dressing, worcester sauce stir
Then add remaining base and cook on high heat for 5 mins
Season with salt and sugar to your own taste (add carefully tasting as you do)
Add chopped coriander - done!

No worries Garp, I shall continue my trials, alone! haha

Looks good Garp, might have to give it a go

I made my madras last night but I never blended the onion/chilli and it wasnt as good as normal, thats what got me thinking of the onion paste.I also used kashmiri and deggi mirch (no standard chilli powder) which seemed to make it a little 'rich' but it was still an excellent curry and said by the wife that it was the best one so far. All noted and ready for my next attempt. Im glad you got positive feedback Garp, maybe we can crack this together, I will be making an onion paste for my next attempt.

Garp, did you get your base from TheCurrySauce.com? Would you recommend the base? and also have you made the Fundamental Onion Paste of said site? I keep meaning to have a go at an onion paste I think there could be something in it