Thanks for taking the time to report back on these kits John Smith.  I think with a bit more practice and time spent here you should be able to at least equal the results.  And with time and more practice surpass them easily    Reasonable price till the p&p went on.  I can get a curry and rice for less  and I know it will taste pretty damn good with no effort from me required. Time you add in cost of meat, TA is a more economical option unless the TA's round your way are that dire 

Whoop whoop indeed  LC lol  ;D

Quote from: littlechilie on January 19, 2016, 09:07 PM
Lol, Yep but I am now aiming for a Michelin Sar rather than my local BIR.

That'll be some achievement LC.  I don't know too many chefs that have achieved that high standard yet  lol   ;D ;D

You're right about the vindaloo though. It is very much a dish where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Simple ingredients in number, cooked correctly results in a flavoursome dish with just the right depth of flavour, and not overly deep  :  Us vindaloo eaters are so fussy, as are many other eaters of a particlar dish on a regular basis  :

Lister, you should have seem my first attempt at a BIR curry  .  I am not even going to begin to describe it  We all have the occasional disaster much to our annoyance so don't be too down hearted.  You're already learning from it which is paramount  and will lay firm foundations for regular future success 
The base will never give up its oil if you use too little and if you don't add enough water to thin it to the desired consistency.  Your attempt may have one or both of these problems. BUT your base was sweet so you have achieved what many fail to do early in the journey -  cooking the onions correctly, so give yourself a pat on the back.  Sugar added to a dish that is not  a sweet dish, CTM, korma etc or a sweet and sour type dish (pathia) or a dish full of chilli powder should be a no no.  Any sweetness should IMHO be available from the base unless you are after adding another layer of flavour and not simply looking to add sweetness to the curry ie, adding mango chutney or using jaggery, both adding much more than simply sweetness.
As for the blandness or lack of depth of flavour I would put this down to you not being able to reduce and caremalise your base becasue it was too thick in the first place.  I do not agree that

Quote
maybe you over cooked the spices, they only needs frying for about a minute.

I could easily be wrong and I look to the more experienced cooks on here to share their experiences on this matter.  IMO you either undercook the spices, cook them correctly or burn them.  However, I have asked myself the question, can you overcook the curry  to the point where the flavours stop improving and start  to degrade   Maybe this a separate topic which we can all contribute to 

The greatest surprise for me here, is that the chef goes to the trouble of prepping his mushrooms    Although i've read about some places using tinned and some blanching them in water with a dash of turmeric, I would have assumed, wrongly that these were rarely pre-cooked.
I struggled to see the advantage of doing this with mushrooms.  But on thinking about it, they do release a lot of liquid and by prepping, this would prevent would could be an issue.  Still not 100% convinced but i'm sure the chef wouldn't go to the trouble unless there was a very valid reason.  Mushroom bhaji is now on the order as well for tomorrow 

There's a lot of very tasty looking chicken around tonight    This recipe also seems not only to be pretty much in line with CBM's advanced method but also that used by Imran from the Viceroy.  I must admit, I used frozen chicken, so based on that I didn't bother adding any water as I knew there would be a fair amount coming out of the meat while it was cooking.  I've got to say, what i cooked was the best pre-cooked chicken I've prepped to date    And i'll be doing some more later this week as stocks are now running low again 

  WOW. This must be the deluxe version compared to that which is served in many establishments. I too am shocked at the number of ingredients used in something to which few people would really pay little attention.  Having said that, if the same ethic is applied to the rest of the food, then i'm not surprised they do very good business jb.  You are being taught by a pro who cares very much about the quality of the food that leaves his kitchen.  I must confess i didn't even try the dip that accompanied my meal.  It went in the fridge for later but later never came and it ended up in B1n.  Shameful I know  .  But as so much effort goes into it i will be definitely trying it tomorrow just to see what a difference such a complex recipe makes  .

Lol, come on Russ, you should know me better than that.  The journey has only just begun
Although from much of the evidence, with few exceptions, blended toms seem to be used in the prep of ingredients rather than in the mains where diluted paste tends to be the norm.

Quote from: littlechilie on January 19, 2016, 08:24 PM
I never use tomato pur

Quote from: Madrasandy on January 18, 2016, 07:04 PM
Looks eggstra special that Gav  ;D

Ha ha, very good MA.  Some egsstaordinary great looking food in this thread.  I think Lou will be made up to see all this on topic stuff augmenting her original thread CT Another one on the radar minus the eggs of course 
Never gotten over my adverse reaction to eggs in a curry when one night my phall appeared wearing an omlette overcoat     No, it's just wrong, get rid of it 

Fantastic jb.  Made up for you mate.  The realtionship is really beginning to pay off for you, and us too  ;D

Quote from: jb on January 18, 2016, 07:03 PM
..............who knows I may make a curry chef yet!

Think you are well on the way.  Looking forward to regular snippets of info.  As for the masala paste, that's the difference between one chef and another.  You decide what you think gives the best results 

Quote from: Micky Tikka on January 18, 2016, 02:28 PM
Frozen balls are quite common at the moment

Isn't that the truth  ;D
That was great Gav................until the egg appeared