Just wishing you all have  a great day and hope the weathers a bit better than here on the Scottish borders

I don't know but washing my Basmati rice is the only way i'll do it, not only do i get a better result than not washing(the rice don't stick together) but also any dead grains of rice get washed away as they float on the surface.
Also coogan youre way of simplifying things takes 30 minutes of soaking? mine is a quick 5minute rinse and then dry in the seive. Fry and boil, steam.

Yep 45 degree, nip down to b and q and get yourself a cheap mitre box for a few quid.

Thanks Abdul

Axe doesn't your home have that aroma after you have made a few portions of curry?
Try my method. I make the curry in advance, fry the gg, add the spice mix add the base but don't reduce it, turn off the heat. I don't add pre-cooked meat yet either.
Then i have a bath and wash my hair. The second i open the bathroom door i can smell that curry house aroma. Its even more pronounced if i leave the house for a while then return.
To finish the meal i just add the meat and reduce it, season it to taste whilst the rice is cooking. I don't honk of fried spices and it only takes 15 mins to finish off, most of which im sat in front of the goggle box with a timer on my mobile counting out the rice.

I agree completely and have said so before. I also believe some of the recipes here are ta clones and perfectly sound ie, taz's, Dips, also a new convert to the abc book. Im sorry i still have not tried some of CA's recipes and other very well received recipe's from the site but do not doubt that they are good also.
I don't believe any more that there is a holy grail or missing ingredient. I think in some cases technique is important, but only in so far as frying spices and or gg paste.
My friends and family have all said the same as your friends and family, our currries are as good as or better than...blah blah. I have bought a meal and thought that it wasn't as good as my home made efforts.
And i concede that some restaurants are just as you say, better than our home made efforts.
Confidence is a major factor for me. The way i quite literally throw a curry together now when compared to my early efforts is something else.
The problem is it makes me/us sound arrogant to say these things.
The next step for me, is to use the recipes i am familiar with and make them more subtle, i actually want to move a little towards the top restaurants flavours and more away from the local ta flavour, if you know what i mean.
Yes i agree 101%. 

Hiya and welcome
Yeah you'll be fine with a hot wok, there are lots of myths here and also lots of ongoing debates and arguments over techniques and so on, if a thread gets too confusing the best bet is to close it and just look for a recipe to begin with.
Two of my favourite recipes here and also two of the simplest are Dipuraja's recipes, which come with video's to study. The second are the ABC book which does have a lot of stages but the actual putting together of the final dish takes away any chance of burning spices.
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4340.0
Above is the link for ABC chicken Dupiaza.
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4375.0
And here is the link for Dip's base gravy/sauce. If you use the search function you'll be able to sort out the correct meal for yourself, just search for Dipuraja and hit enter.

To begin with just pick one recipe originator and stick with the corresponding base/spice mix and techniques for that particular meal, otherwise you'll just get confused and start over analysing yourself and the recipes.
You will be impressed with the results

There are 2 sizes of foil container, i have just measured the smaller of the two and it holds 400ml of liquid.
One of these full of base is what i use at home to make 2 meals.
This small container is the one you would receive a single portion of ta rice in.
Hope this helps.

Yellow mustard seeds are hot in terms of spice when compared to black or brown.
When i say hot i mean they leave that english mustardy flavour/heat in your throat.
You'll see what i mean if you make a madras as usual, but add a tsp or two of yellow mustard seeds to the frying stage. It seems to compliment the heat of the chillies.

What i do is mix all the ingredients for the tandoori paste but leave it dry.
This mix i add to the f-word tandoori recipe, instead of adding a tbsp of tandoori paste from a jar i add a tbsp of the dry mix. it works perfectly.