I loved pittas when i lived out there heat the pitta add yogurt and mint or Tazatziki(spelling?)chickin tikka or aloo chat and salad job done ;D
At least with indian cooking you can experiment with it try experimenting with roast beef dinner lol ;D
I will put a easy aloo chat on the starters page when i get chance
thanks andy

Hi all I'm back.
    Have had a look and can't find the recipe for the base sauce.but i will get intouch with the chef he lives on corfu and works and owns an indian called the viceroy which is was in kontokali then ipsos and now is near aqua land i worked there for 7-8 months and learn alot about indian cooking and where i was the tandoor chef and then the starters chef and spent one week as the main chef why he was in the uk at a friends funeral.so my main skills were starters and naans ect.
Here is a quick indian summer salad recipe.
1, slice 1/4 lettuce
2, Finley slice 1/2 onion
3, 4 inches cucumber cut thinly sliced then cut through to make half moon then cut to make quarter moon
4, Coarsely slice 1/2 red 1/2 green pepper
5, cut 3 tomato's in to about 6-7 slices through the top
6, a big handfull coriander washed and drained chopped Finley
7, 1 teaspoon salt
8, half teaspoon chille powder
9, 2 large teaspoons mint sauce
10, sprinkle of lemon juice
  put all above in a bowl and mix together with a large spoon or hands. and serve
  all the best andy

I am away for a few days but will put it on as soon as i,m back,I have read curry secrets and its very similar but there seems to be to much boil this simmer this all i do is let it all cook together very slowly for longer.If you look at most the ingredient for the base its all close to the same.I use the oil method at home but will see if i have the measurements somewhere.but as i remember the stock as enough watery content and you do not need to add much water at all.
I will post next week.
                     andy

The only ones i use at base sauce level are turmeric for colour and paprika to give a bit of heat without the bitterness of chili powder.
All the other stuff i would use depending on the meal.
I would keep my base sauce simple it needs to taste like a sweetish lightly curried sauce and not the finished itam.
But this is my preference.
All men are equal but thank god every curry is different ;D
     Hope this helps
                 Andy

The chef i worked with did not use oil in the base sauce but after i had filleted 10-12 chicken breast's on the bone he would boil the carcases and strain this and freeze or use the stock strait away to make the base and pick the chicken from the carcases to make starters etc this is a good economy practise nothing is waisted.
But oil is good if you do not get that much stock.
There was a thread on here where some ask about making a large amount of base sauce and do you double or treble all the ingredient's the answer is no.
  Use less ginger when double or treble
  use less water   "     "     "   "
I gauge my water buy just covering the onions and bring to boil then turn right down and cook slowly for 1-1 1/2 hours
In the restaurant we would leave it on very low heat just a flicker of gas for 4-5 hours sometimes much longer.
A good tip is not to blend to much just a few seconds pour into a collinder above the sauce pan and using the back of a laddle gently rub the laddle againts the side what will not go through easy leave in till the last laddle full is in the blender then scoop out and add blend and put through the collinder if any remains throw it away.
hope this helps
               andy
Its easier to do than say

Let me tell you if i cooked at home the way i cooked when i work in the restaurant my wife would kill me and every smoke alarm in the house would be going off.lol
I dont think there is a secret that you are missing it looks as though its all there.
But how you cook the meals,how many of you but the ghee in turn the gas to full and add the onions, peppers,chillies etc and allow the oil to spill over and catch fire and when its still really hot add the base sauce,What a mess to clean up after.How many of you use woks to cook in?They are good but do not reduce the sauce as good as a high sided frying pan.mine has a long handle and is aluminium which reacts quickly over the burner.
I love to cook Indian food at home and let me tell you that even after 10 years i am still looking for the perfect curry.
The man that taught me to cook told me you never put the same amount of spices in the same meal each time you just use the same large spoon and judge it,so evertime you have the same meal it has a slight deference.This is because we are allways looking for that something extra.
Just recently i have been adding 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic at the add to the ghee part of the curry just before you add the base sauce.And find it to make the curry slightly sweeter and gives it a bit more.forgot what i was asking!!oh yeah
So my question is do you kill your kitchen?  ;D
Thanks andy

santa, it maybe that the garama masala was in the base sauce?you'r all looking for the secret ingredient,its the basic one's made right that is needed.how many of you use garam masala?
   all the best,andy
     

what ive seen on this site starters wise is as good as a cir and a bir.what you will find is the way things are presented makes it that bit better.the little things in cooking the meals,like cooking at a high temp with ghee and using fresh things.The chef where i worked made his own garamasala this is very important,also in hot currys use chillies blend them in water to a paste then freeze in ice cube tray then use a cube or two in the meals do not use to much chilli powder as this can make a curry bitter/sour use a little peprika.
    andy

Just found this thread.put on a few posts already. so hi again
andy

been reading on a base sauce recipe and it tells you to liquidize, I dont liquidize just blend for a few seconds then put it through a collinder using the back of a ladle if some will not go through blend again then discard (dont force it through)
Remember that texture is the secrete to a good curry.but everyones taste is deferent or there would only be one bir open. ;D.
another problem i used to get was when you increased the amount of sauce it got very thin.dont increase the water or stock buy the same amount just cover the onions.
another thing i use when making naan bread is a tin of evaporated milk then a little water if needed.nice and sweet with good texture and stops it turning into the dreaded biscuit when cooked in the oven.
sheek kababs i put all ingredients in a blender and blend until nice and fluffy (including the minced lamp).
If you make a chicken tikka masala put a little tikka massala in the meals i also put evaporated milk.

there are a few more tricks to use,i will post them as i remember them.
i hope this helps and i'm not copying what as already been said in other posts.
many thanks andy