Hi Darth
           I think the KD base works very well, at home, because the main flavour wanted is easy to cover.
And it delivers this.
The restaurants manage to add all sorts of things extra to their base
Black Cardamons
Green Cardamons
Cinammon sticks
Bay leaves
Cloves
Peppercorns
Celery
Green Pepper
Carrots
Radish
Curry Powder
Dried fenugreek
Turmeric
Chicken Stock
Whole lemon

but somehow, when they do it, the additional ingredients just give a subtle extra flavour.
When I add ,some of the above, they become the main character of the sauce, and it loses the feel it had.
Cardamon, bay leaf and cinammon really dominate
I think the KD sauce is extremely close to being right, but still needs a little something.
It may well be something, listed above but, whatever it is, will give more smell than flavour
I have already tried a couple of things and ruined it
I am sure it's because we work in such small quantities

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on October 25, 2005, 03:07 PM
re-using oil from curries is great, but it isn't what the restaurants do!

I promise you, this is what they do
Maybe not all restauarnts do it, but certainly three out of the four I have seen recently.
The oil is not "chilli hot" either, it is just spicy savoury.
I have seen one restaurant scoop out the excess oil, from a cooked curry,and put it back into the gravy too.
I'm sure these methods were originally done to keep costs down.
It's by chance that they enhance the flavour.
I cooked two curries last Saturday and salvaged the extra oil, from the first, and put it back in my oil pot.
The second curry was far better than the first
I think that this oil recycling improves the oil each time.
There must come a point when it's unusable though

Quote from: Angelina on October 26, 2005, 04:45 PM
I used extra oil and skimmed off to save for the actual curry.? As soon as I poured it into the warm pan, I knew this was a very important stage.?

The aroma of this reheated spiced oil is amazing
This part I know is right
At most of the demos this is the predominant smell.
That, and also when, they add the curry powder

Quote from: Mark J on October 24, 2005, 08:22 PM
OK, I have just tried Pete's really simple recent prawn madras and it came out perfectly

That's brilliant
It must be down to the base being right
I think it's really difficult, when you work in small quantities, to get exactly the same base each time.
The base I used the first time was definitely superior to the second time

I have noticed cooking in a dirty pan with old oil, can produce a lovely aroma.

I think if Kris Dhillon's base is missing something, that is better than having something in it that shouldn't be there.
At least you can experiment with new additions.
The missing part is something with a bouquet
I am sure it's something we know
It's going to be cheap too

I have never seen vinegar used before
I tried  a Pat Chapman recipe with vinegar
But I'll give this a go
Do you think it was close to the restaurant  version?

Green ginger just means the fresh stuff you buy from asian shops and supermarkets.
It's called that to distinguish itself from the dried stuff.
I asked about this when I got the book
An Asian lady on my street told me

I have this book
It is NOT restaurant recipes at all
They are homestyle versions of restaurant meals
For example
Chicken Tikka Masala is made by marinading the chicken, then boiling the whole lot!

Vindaloo has cardamons, cinammon,cloves,mace,cumin,chili,vinegar and potatoes in it.

It's a waste of money for us lot
No curry gravy in the recipes (except one)
I actually bought my copy from America

OK, I posted my demo prawn madras
I made it at home and got a very close result
CK & Yellow Fingers tried it and it clearly wasn't what they were aiming for
I think Curry Queen and Mark were trying too
Tell me what happened, I can take it
All I can say is that what I described is exactly what they did.
I still have a small sample of the restaurant curry base
KD's really does look identical but there still is a little something that is not exact.
The same difference is noticable in the finished curry.
This "something" is in the home made curry base but not it's quite as strong
I think CK said something along those lines
So any changes I make, will not be to the methods of cooking the curry, but to the base.
I know that everything else we are doing is exactly right.
I am sure this can be done at home
See picture
KD's sauce is the red arrow
http://img465.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kdandcurryhousegravy7dz.jpg
Actually, looking really close
The genuine curry gravy looks more jellied.
Chicken Jelly?