ZAP
As you seem to know the chilli powders
There is a good Cayenne chilli powder By Steenbergs comes from Uganda 130/150 shu,s
one of the best for heat and reliable

GerryM
Said
My post was aimed at learning something new. I was not wanting to go back to school though.

Its a bit hard for some to remember on this forum that are all levels of curry cooks,
The post was to help all not just the "top of the class gang" who appear to be more skilled at blindly picking holes in threads for ego massaging

ELW
said
Some places don't use powdered spice at all except in the base, but still turn out a bhuna. How does that work?

The base is not the END product its the cooking of the curry and the mix powders that are added in MOST birs You need to see not watch some of the videos for many examples
Some chefs add spices because they know them by heart mix powders are used so that not so skilled  staff members can help out

@ELW



It doesnt go on at all in some places, the spices are sometimes cooked in the base.
The spices were all cooked the same way in the zaal/fleet visit, regardless of vindaloo/ Madras/ bhuna / roshney.

The Zaal use mix powder when making a curry spices ground are in the mix powder the post explains the cooking of them.

LC
Keeping @ it and pushing your limits has payed off for me.
This is now my default base after wasting years messing about with them
Cooking efforts can now concentrate on other neglected areas

I knocked up a jb base last week, after adding the tadka garlic time was not on my side so I dumped it all into a slow cooker left it for 8 hours for a meal later
.Wow what a surprise even tastier and a richer aroma
Scientifically how that happened I am not sure  I expect Einsteins tutors here will explain ;D
I know some Birs keep it on for ages
Someone please try this and share the result      "eureka moment" for me and  mrs Ox

I 3rd that Geo
I gave some to my dog and the missus started to moan .I told her it was a CA recipe" that's ok then not hot or spicy" she said ;D

There is no upper limit to the amounts of mixtures
Its when to use it correctly rather than guessing or reading recipes where guesses have been used, the big question when

As this is a GM post
It came to my attention some time ago that there are 2 types of GM
The 1st is a savoury GM used when frying the  spices
The 2nd uses the sweeter spices and added at the last 30 seconds or so
Is anyone else aware that we could be adding the right types at the wrong times ?

There is a variety of black peppercorn called Tellicherry from India it is much more aromatic than the usual stuff and well worth seeking (fleabay or google) most GMs call for black pepper this stuff makes a huge difference

I watched a chef use methi he put a good pinch in his palms then rubbed it to a powder then lobbed it in
I have tried and for some unknown reason it makes the curry less harsh
I expect someone who is a professor of methi use and what height to drop for the best flavour will educate us all ;D