This chilie powder thing:  I used to use schwartz, very good in a Mexican chilie, it adds just the right flavour; not so good in curry, in my madras I use Rajah, to some extend it seems to 'self sour' the dish in a way that Schwartz never did, MUCH better in a curry.  I would suggest stick to Rajah, but just use less of it!

I thought dried fenugreek leaf (quasuri methi) was the answer at one stage, it wasn't, although it did help a bit!

Thanks Bruce, very helpful comments.

I agree with JerryM, my best bases have hardly any carrot and pepper, when I reduced these ingredients the bases started to taste better, and produced better finished dishes, my spices for the base consist of mainly paprika, turmeric and a little spice mix (Bruce Edward's).  I'd bother to write it down, but it's similar to so many others on here!

Could be tomarto soup!

You have a good point CA, perhaps a 'bog standard' chicken curry would be a good test of a BIRs abilities.

yep

I would say tinned are more concentrated!

I tried frying the onions before blending them before but I prefer boiling because I found the onions blend better for some reason.  Maybe I just had a bad day and I should revisit this method?

The dish I tend to order in a new place first is always Chicken Madras. To some extent I judge them on that, notwithstanding the fact that different BIRs do different dishes well, It's my favorite test of a BIR

Irrespective of how hot (chilie) it is, a poor establishment will invariably make a  boring madras that lacks 'supporting' flavours.

What do you think??  Would your choice be Madras, bhuna, CTM?

Instead of using water to make up the liquid of my base I use home made chicken stock.

I boil up the carcass of a roast chicken, after most of the meat has come off it in a few pints of water, if I have it I add some uncooked chicken on the bone, plus a couple of whole star anise, some cinnamon bark (or quills, whatever), some peppercorns some cloves and 2 or 3 bay leaves.  After 2 or 3 hours I strain off the rubbish and use the fluid for the base, making up the volume with water as required.  I use about 1.8 to 2 kg of veg, so that should give an idea of how far the stock can 'stretch'.

I am now VERY sure this makes a huge difference to the finished dishes, the chicken is not concentrated enough to be noticable, but rather it contributes a subliminal 'roundness' to the result.

I had a demo in what was the Gatwick Tandoori (now: Zari) years ago, and one of the guys that ran the place as good as told me they use home made chicken stock in their base.

I tried it without and it's no where near as good!