A bit of ketchup works wonders in all sorts of dishes, Gary Rhodes and  Gordon Ramsey use it to give a bit of 'oomph'.  I'm sure it would be used in many restaurant kitchens.

btw yes I am addicted to the food channel! 

When I cook 'normal' dishes like shepherd's pie, spag bol and other stuff I add tomato puree really early when browning the meat and it turns very rich and dark and aromatic.  Adding the same amount of puree later on doesn't give the same taste or richness at all, it's much blander and just 'raw tomatoey' flavour, so I reckon this could be an important step towards a good restaurant curry!

Thanks so much for sharing Mark, fascinating.

Yes, i was watching it this morning.  It was a shame Wozza's 'bucket' was chosen, much as I like him I would have liked to see Reza cooking.  I love Reza and it's great to see him all over the tv at the moment. He has a top restaurant and he reminds me of Freddie Mercury!

Thanks, will do!

Wow Pete that was absolutely fascinating, thanks for sharing!

Will you make the recipe again and cook the gravy for far longer, brown garlic etc, it would be interesting to see if  that would give it 'the taste'.  I would love to visit there if I lived nearer!

I know what you mean about Sunday curries lacking 'the' flavour. I sometimes go to our local sunday all you can eat buffet, and while the food is nice enough and fresh tasting, it's not like a usual  takeaway, it's more a home-cooked taste and not really anything that I couldn't do myself.  It's still a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a sunday though!

Hello all, I'm new! I'd just like to say I love this site and really appreciate the efforts made. Obviously I am a curryholic too or I wouldn't be here. ? I can't wait to start trying the gravy recipes and contributing some (hopefully) helpful input.

Anyway Muttley that's a really good idea and I must give it a go sometime. However you've also reminded me my freezer needs defrosting so badly I can't even open the door!? :-[? Oh well, that's my afternoon sorted then!