I've been cooking curry's over 20 years, but only in the last couple of years did I get into base sauce. Amazing how you can knock up a curry so quick.

Lots of different chefs method's are very similar but very wordy, which tends to make them seem different and can have you lose focus on the main thread. While documenting, I try and keep things simple and put the rest of the "fluff" down to experience. This way I managed pull together 9 completely different curry recipes in 1.5 pages of A4. Essentially it's a super short, concise, ebook. Thought I'd share. Not sure if this is the best place for such a thing, but I see this thread as more about 'keeping it simple', using a standard approach, adapted slightly for each recipe, and less about the recipes themselves. Follow this standard approach, and take ideas out of other peoples recipes to try and match what you are looking for in your own curry.

CURRY METHOD

Pre-fry
6 tbs veg oil
1-2 tsp garlic & ginger paste
1-2 tbs fine chopped onion & green pepper
Fry above until just before browning.

Spice fry
1 tsp chilli powder
Spices
Add above and fry some seconds.

Main cook
1 portion base sauce
1 tsp salt
1 portion of pre-cooked meat
On high heat, add some base sauce bit by bit to prevent the spices burning. Add the salt. Add the meat. Reduce to simmer. Thicken the sauce to the desired consistency.

Late additions
Add the aromatics and other late additions and simmer for a minute or 2.

THE CURRY'S
You'll notice I only fill in the blanks below. The ingredients in the curry's below are to be ADDED to the standard cook outlined above...

Standard
Spice fry: 1/2 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Madras
Pre-fry: 1 tbs tomato puree, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
Spice fry: 1 tsp mix powder.
Late additions: pinch fenugreek leaves.

Jalfrazi
Pre-fry: half onion, half green pepper, half red pepper, 1 star anasi, 1 tbs tomato puree.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Bhuna
Spice fry: 1 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, fresh coriander.

Bhuna Masala
Pre-fry: 50g mushrooms, half green pepper.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 1/4 tsp red food colour powder.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Do-Piaza
Pre-fry: 2 small onions (cut in strips).
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Korma
Change to standard: only 4 tbs veg oil, no ginger & garlic paste, no onion & green pepper, no chilli powder.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 2 tbs finely ground cashew nuts, 1/4 tsp yellow food colour powder.
Late additions: 150ml single cream, 1/2 tsp garam masala.

Sagwala
Change to standard: 7 tbs veg oil.
Spice fry: 2 brown cardamoms.
Main cook: 200g well chopped frozen or tinned spinach.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala.

Rogan Josh
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp paprika.
Late additions: 2 tbs yoghurt, 1 rough chopped tomato, 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

My favourites are the Jalfrazi & Sagwala, both made unique with the addition of their respective hard whole spice. Keeping my recipes written simple like this allows me to see easily what it is that contributes to the flavour of each curry, and so more easily pick out problem additions or omissions as I continue my search for perfection. My current base sauce of choice is Chewy's, which I split into 6 portions and cook with 400-500g meat.

Thanks CH. Yes I ask such questions more to know what the general consensus is, so as to have that as the basis on which my continued attempts will be compared. I don't think for a moment that what any one person says here will be my holy grail, as in any case, there is healthy arguments about almost everything here.

My 1 1/2 year BIR journey has so far taught me that the base sauce offers most influence, and that less is best; I don't think I've under spiced a curry yet. So I did keep my Madras simple. No fenugreek, no garam masala, no fresh coriander. Clearly then the base sauce and the chosen spice mix played a big role, but the lemon did give it an edge.

Staying on subject of the OP, I've never really taken to either Madras or Korma, but I have tried them in the BIR from time to time. And yes, my first ever attempt at Korma struck me as being exactly like the ones from the restaurant, but I should say that also the Madras was pretty OK. I think the cream in the Korma reduces the influence of the base sauce and means that almost any attempt comes out similar, while the Madras is very low on additions, so the base sauce and spice mix are big players in determining the flavour, so more difficult to replicate, if that's what you are looking for.

I tried to use a frying pan like yours, but I found it was too non-stick and wasted a few naans that way.

I use a pan just like this with great results. A sprinkling of water on the pan side of the dough, before pressing it into the pan, is the trick to getting it to stick. It's easy to overdo the water and then struggle to get the naan off, but you quickly get used to this. That said, I do use a non-stick pan that is well past it's hayday. The pattern on the underside of naans is where the water was placed to get it to stick; you could even write a secret message under your naans  ;D

It's no more than a medium curry with a few shakes of Lea & Perrins and lemon juice at the right time.

I just did my first Madras today. Pretty good all in all, but I haven't had many BIR Madras, so a bit difficult to say if it replicated. But I did add lemon and worcestershire sauce. I think I forgot about the timing of the additions and just added both very late on in the initial fry. Was I wrong with this, what is "the right time"? Thanks.

I'm well on the path of BIR style curry's now. Continuing to try different bases, different approaches, while at the same time expanding my curry portfolio.

On the subject of different approaches, I recently started adding about 1 tbs of finely chopped onion and green pepper as the first fry. I've not tried a side-by-side with and without, so I can't say I really know what it adds, but it's certainly not added anything bad.

Is this chopped onion/pepper rare or a pretty standard approach? What is the main intent of the addition and should it be reserved for specific curry styles? Thanks.