Yes!, to all of your posts.  I concur with almost every word of all that you've written.  My kitchen also smells of the enticing aroma of Indian food when I cook it, and particularly so after I'd prepared the 3 Australian base gravies a few weeks back. You tend to notice it more coming in "fresh" than you do by actually being amongst it as well, so it's likely that this is a contributing factor.

It may just be that the Takeaway bain marie has 12 different dishes along with samosas and Tikka all sitting there, plus the cooking pots bubbling away out back and a Tandoor turning out naan all at once that causes the complexity of the aroma.  It's difficult to say.

I've been told it's the fenugreek that causes the smell and missing flavour. That's only part of it.  The way the onions are cooked, ditto. Spiced oil, I'm not sure. I need to give it a real test out.  Don't get me wrong here. I love my curries and they are good.  The people who have eaten them love them and so do I.  I just feel that there is that last tiny bit.  But where would the fun be if you didn't have something extra to strive towards?

George, I believe that Taste and Smell are very closely linked senses and bacon almost always smells better than it tastes as do barbequed onions.

There is a Takeaway / Dine In business in a city near me that has 4 outlets in the suburbs.  As you approach these locations the aroma of the kitchen is unmistakeable and the pungency / completeness of the smell is palpable. It is a pain in the behind since it immediately induces salivation and the hunger trigger is clicked off into overdrive.  The same can be said for any of another 6 or so in the surrounding areas.

The main store has a little Indian grocery section attached next door, but if you go in there and ask anything at all about recipes or techniques they sheepishly tell you that only the chef knows.  I don't think my cooking technique is at all "iffy" and in fact I can turn my hand to just about anything but without the full picture, recreating any dish exactly as it is meant to be is never going to happen.

Anyone can cook a curry and some people can cook a good curry.  There is more to be learnt and one would have thought it would be relatively plain in the information age.  I am more than happy with my efforts so far and owe much of my improvement to finding websites like this and this one in particular, but I'm nowhere near the target yet.

Clearly I am not alone in feeling that something is missing.

Quote from: Secret Santa on September 26, 2014, 12:58 AM

Quote from: livo on September 26, 2014, 12:53 AMBut it just is missing something, and so are the naans.  There are still "secrets" in my opinion.

Jeez. Join the club..it's a biggun!

I agree it is a big club.  The thing is Santa, that the "secret" or "5%", or whatever you wish to call it, is supposedly not a secret anymore.  This site, and others like it, plus the multitude of Youtube revealers, are all meant to have revealed the "Secret".  How many posts I've read from people who have worked for X amount of years in the kitchens I can't remember, but if all was revealed we wouldn't still be scratching our heads at what is missing from our otherwise well cooked and tasty dishes.

The secret revealed?  Obviously not yet.

Referring back to the OP, I would say that you point out exactly what I've been finding as my main frustration for years.  As I wrote recently in a different thread, you can smell and feel the aroma of the Indian Joint before you see it normally.  My bases, gravies and dishes smell and taste good.

But it just is missing something, and so are the naans.  There are still "secrets" in my opinion.

To show my faith in this recipe and with my Greek friend's mods re temp and time, and the fact that I wanted to eat it again, I have prepared the dish exactly as it appears in the 2 recipe scans.  I have some pics to put up ( later) and it is in the oven now at 130'C.  Just meat, no bone. Minimum 4 hours.  Cost me about $50 but it will feed 12 people, or me twice.

Next time I do this it will be BIR style, but you all need to understand that it is still cooking.

Well the Atta flour does not provide the missing flavour.  I guess it could be just the heat / flame of the tandoor but I'm not convinced there isn't something I don't yet know. 

On  some other points in general Naan discussion, I find lots of conflicting / varied ideas. 

The leavening agent.  An Indian chef I've recently watched has said that either Yeast or Baking Powder is acceptable but the results will simply be different.  Some say that using one or the other is "not a proper Naan".  I've used both and haven't yet decided which I prefer.

Egg or not.  A simple choice between Vegetarian / vegan or not.

Water, milk or yogurt.  Depends on what you want in your bread.  Again all acceptable to use depending on your dietary / taste preferences.

The last thing I'll raise here is the consistency of the dough.  Cheerful Chris' videos call for long rest times to soften the dough, which it does, but the Indian chef I refer to above had his dough so wet that it was on the verge of being unmanageable and also note that due to the slackness of the dough it is hardly kneaded at all.  Check out VahRehVah.com .

Now the actual lamb.

Remember this is about method.  The recipe uses Lamb Shanks and says they are cooked slowly, but the numbers they use isn't slow.  My Greek friends tweaked the numbers and cooked boned chunks of meat (quite large, as in tennis ball size) for 4 hours at 140'C in a tightly lidded pan, turning only once halfway through.  They suggest that if it were a joint of lamb on the bone 7 - 8 hours at lower temp would be better.

Again substitute Indian ingredients for the Mediterranean ones and instead of stock and red wine use a Base Gravy for the liquid.

OK, so my friend has emailed me back and I have the goods on the lamb we ate a few years back.  It is not a curry, however anyone with knowledge and skill could very easily adapt this method to incorporate whatever spices they deem desirable.  It is not dissimilar to BIR method as it is done with a base sauce / gravy, but it has a more Mediterranean influence being a mixture of Italian sauce and Greek influence.

The original recipe comes from a book released by a Restaurant / Music venue located fairly close to my home.  It is a small place with limited seating that provides musical entertainment by the countries top artists as well as internationals and up and comers along with really good food.  It is run by a guy who in his own right was a successful musician here in the land of Oz.  The recipe is based on Lamb Shanks but my friends did it with large chunks of boned out shoulder which they cooked for only 4 hours.  A leg or full shoulder would benefit from the longer cooking but it is done when it's done.

First the sauce / gravy.  Remember that this can be currified. It is the method we look at here.

Instead of Celery, Parsley and Basil, use Green Chilli, Indian Bay leaf and Fenugreek leaf, plus some Coriander Cumin and Cardamom pods and / or whatever else you think.

I need a Tandoor.

So what is the name of your Cardiologist?  He must be very good. ;D

No, but that look delicious.  Do they sell Korma?