My feeling is that MSG may be a flavor enhancer but in all those chinese restaurants in the US, the food tastes great!!  And there is no MSG!!  It is kind of like in indian cooking, the people who dont use onions and garlic - their food still tastes great in a different way.  it is hard to explain.....some spices are like substitutes for those 2 items.  Please dont ask me to explain how, I dont know!  I havent made the effort to learn that because onions and garlic are both very good for the health.  At least fo rnow they are until they come up with a study that shows otherwise - like the whole butter/margarine debacle

I have to comment about MSG.  In the US, studies have found it to cause cancer in lab studies.  I mean - big studies - it is a confirmed fact!!!  The big push there is to privide food without it. I am very alarmed to see in the UK people dont care about that or just dont know about it.  I always read all the packages and make sure that nothing i buy has MSG in it!!  I ate at one chinese place here and after eating, had terrible symptoms - dizziness, giddiness and just felt terrible - symptoms from too much MSG!! I will not have any type of chinese food in the Uk anymore because none of them say their food is MSG free - in the US, all the restaurants advertise that they are 100% MSG free.

Yes, a few traditional recipes would be great. While you cook traditional Indian food can you cast some light on what Basaar Mix is used in? I bought some from my local Asian supermarket on recommendation as most Asians use it in home cooking. It smells awesome and is sold from plastic dustbins with a scoop so I reckon it's an important spice mix for some folk.

I have never heard of that mix - thats a new one to me!!  i dont think it is genuine to be honest.  Maybe a certain part of india uses it but not the north.  Have you tried searching online for it?  I will try that just to be sure.

I dont know how many people are indians on this site but I am and  we dont use the dried methi very much.  A certain few dishes have it - but otherwise, we always grind the seeds ourselves to use - I have not even bothered looking for the powder in a supermarket because the quantity used is so little, it is better to grind the seeds fresh each time.  But maybe here in the UK for the "currys" the leaves may be used - I am new to the UK and we dont really have "currys" in India - most of the restaurants dont even use onions or garlic in their cooking!!!  But the food is very very tasty anyways.  My parents never saw an onion or garlic clove growing up because they never ate it!  It seems the indian food in the UK is totally different from what is found in india - I have not found any restaurant to my liking here in the UK.  I am from the US and the food is more authentic there than here!