I have been mostly using the Kris Dhillon Prawn Curry as a base for vindaloo and varied it with tips from these forums.

I have also recently tried cabbage and carrot as per "Undercover Curry" which I find not to have a huge impact on the overall flavour but it definitely makes it smell more appealing during cooking.

Another site says its essential to blend onion and garlic in water, add a small amount of cinnamon and cumin then boil down to a dry paste to add in at the end. I imagine thats listed here somewhere too but then this site is new to me.

I have been wondering how my local gets it's Vindaloos bright red, mine finish up a nasty light brown. Anyhow thanks for the encouragement I will do more reading here.