Just out of interest @madrasandy, what do you think it is that makes this blend a good powder? Is it the proportions of spices and the actual contained spices?  Or is it the roasting in the hot oven rather than dry frying in a pan? or Both?

Just wondering because this is my next task. To better understand the subtle variations in actual Curry Powders, and also Mix powders. I want to understand why certain spices are included or omitted from different variations of what is often the same thing in name.  eg Mild Madras Curry Powder can be so many different things depending on where you shop or where you look at a recipe to make it yourself.  This makes for very confused novices unless actual Brands are specified and available.

I found a recipe for a homemade Curry Powder a few years ago which was made from single spice ingredients only.  I made it and it was terrible, flavourless and dusty.  Might have been bad old ingredients to start with or just a bad mix combination, I'm not sure. I had a container of cheap supermarket generic Curry Powder that I didn't think much of either so I tipped them both together and just put it away.  A fair while later I needed some powder to just make Curried Sausages and that was all I had.  It made the best curried sausages you could imagine and my father wanted it as he had been unable to find a powder as good.  Now I can't buy the generic powder so I can't reproduce it.

Wow. I just read this whole thread and I have to say the start of it really had some hackles up and feathers flying and I just do not understand why.  Allow me to explain the way I see it.

First up, good ole mate Abdul gives us a real simple "8 Spice" recipe for a mix powder. Pretty simple, yeah?

BUT NO. It all goes pear-shaped from there at the start and for no good reason. All that BS over the use of Tandoori Powder.  Let's have a good look at this from a very novice standpoint.

Number 1 ingredient is 100g of Mild Madras Curry Powder.  WHICH ONE? 3 sites give 3 different recipes with anywhere from 7 -10 ingredients out of a list of 13.  Some powders, some whole, some roasted, others not, some added in together, others separately at the end.

Further down we find Garam Masala. WHICH ONE?  A quick look at the first 3 on Chef  Google found 3 different recipes and one in particular was very different to the other two.  Again all using multiple ingredients from a list of many, with some, but not all, common to all 3 and in varying proportion.

Now the ingredient that caused the stir.  Tandoori Powder.  WHICH BLEEDING ONE???  Again a quick search of different sites will give you the same situation as described above.  So many variations of different quantities of spices from a long list and each one is different.

Then you have the fact that all 3 compound ingredients, ie Mild Madras, GM and Tandoori Powder, may also (actually do) contain some ingredients in common and which are also found as single spice ingredients in Abdul's original recipe list.

SO here is the thing, see.  Making Abdul's Mix, from his recipe in the OP of this thread, is capable of producing hundreds, or even thousands, of either slightly or very different  ACTUAL MIXES. Yours wont be the same as mine or Abdul's.  The actual inclusion of Tandoori Powder is far less influential on the end product than the variation of spices in the 3 composite ingredients listed.

By the way, calling it an 8 Spice mix is not quite right. 8 ingredient mix, yes, but it will have more than 8 actual single spices.  This thread has basically given me pause to reconsider asking the question I was intending to ask originally in the Curry Powder thread.  I'll have a think about it and do some more of my own research then ask later.

Tell me if I've got it all wrong but in my Novice mind, that's how I see it.

When my wife cooks with any pan I throw it out.

Trying to find Tawa. H4ppy Chris says he uses plain steel one and water makes the naan stick so he can invert it.  So is it a "non stick" pan as I can only find steel pans with non stick coating or Cast iron.

Hope someone reads this and helps me out.

I watched H4ppy Chris's videos on Naan and he cooked on a Tawa that he said "was just a steel one".  He used water on the bread to make it stick to the tawa so he could invert it and cook the topside directly over the gas burner.  All I can find are either cast iron (which will be great but heavy to use) or all sorts of tawa with double anodising or other "non stick" surface.

Is he using a plain steel pan or non stick?

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,12501.0.html

Exactly right. But now we have it. The mystery is solved.  No wonder the restaurant people I'd asked about it just grin and say yes to any question asked.

I am now 100% confident that within a half dozen more attempts with minor variations, I will have a dish that is acceptable to Fussy Daughter No 1.

Seeing as I've done CT's Mango Chicken, I also found his 2 pan Rogan Josh and did that as well, only in lamb and the meat wasn't pre-cooked so I just did the 2 pans, mixed them together and in the Pressure Cooker for 20 minutes.

Smells unreal. Also did a Palak Paneer or Saag Paneer, whatever it is, to satisfy the missus.  Loves her fresh spinach.

Well now we're getting somewhere.  This is the closest I've come yet and I have to say it is not terribly unlike other versions I've eaten, but still not exactly what I'm after.  I can't thank CT enough as I now have the knowledge I needed to get experimenting and I'm definitely on the right track.

My fussy daughter is the judge and she says it is still "too much like a curry" and not yet rich enough.  So the first thing I'll do is pre-cook the chicken in a milder base gravy, (although I don't think that's the problem), using less mix powder and possibly even none.  After that when I'm actually assembling the dish, I'll again use less base and more mango and possibly more almond meal as well to thicken it a bit more.

The dishes out here, at least the one I'm trying to replicate, are very sweet mango, but with a richness and velvet creaminess with only a hint of spice.

I'm still open to suggestions, but this is the best result so far in over 10 years of trying.

Now to make a Rogan Josh to go with it for my own dinner.

I'll let you know how the next few variations work out and hopefully I'll get that "Eureka" moment.

Thank you so much CT.  This looks very promising. 

It's absolutely pouring rain here today so I'll give it a go, since I can't go fishing.

It doesn't really matter, but what does it say there for white sugar or "any???" (something wrong with characters after any)?

I have alphonso mango pulp but that is what I've seen used over here.  It wont make too much difference and I'll try some different mango types as they arrive this season.