Glad you had success with it!

FYI..The chef discarded the onion liquid, which kinda surprised me. And they don't use carrot, celery, or potatos in base here. (Well, not that I've seen.) Also re:cooking time, the chef explained that the cooking time was VERY important, and a major part of getting the right flavour. Anyway let us know how you go making it into a curry. I'm about to knock up some base myself and see how I go.

Also, do you use "new" packet ground spices each time you cook, or do you grind up whole spices? And do you roast the spices first? I know the flavour can vary alot with the incorrect use of spices.

You're quite right.. It seems Australian tablespoons are 4 teaspoons, or 20g!

I've made this base a few times, and it is good, but I wouldn't suggest anyone here has a go in a hurry. You already have some great base recipes on the site, which seem to be getting good results. I guess this was more of a "see how we do it over here" kinda thing. It's also worth noting that there are quite a few other differences between English and Australian Indian restaurants. For instance Chicken Tikka over here, is a totally different marinade to Tandoori. It has a yellowish color and a different taste, whereas Tandoori here (like in the UK) is bright red. Also our Vindaloo is quite different to yours. Over here Vindaloo is alot more tangy, and seems to have more vinegar, and possibly tamirind or something in it. I'm sorry I can't explain it better!

I thought Australian tablespoons were the same as the overseas counterpart, but perhaps not!

No, this is not a joke either. Just a recipe a kind chef cooked in for me at his house. Let me explain.. I have a local indian that I ate at many times. I asked to meet the chef there, and hassled him for some tips and he was kind enough to invite me to his house, where he cooks for his family on his days off. I told him I knew about "curry base" but had no idea how to make it, so he cooked it on front of me and I wrote the recipe down as he went along. He was quite happy to share the "secret" of curry base, but quick to add that every chef he knows makes it slightly differently.

I hope that explains things a little better!

Hmm...You might be right guys, somewhere I got it wrong, so I deleted the recipe at the top. Here's the original full version of the recipe. We made it at the chefs house and I watched the whole process, and tasted the great results! For this version, the chef used a fairly large stockpot! And yes, the cooking times are right. This took almost 6 hours to prepare and cook, but we had enough base for a couple of months worth of meals! TSP = Teaspoon, TBLS = Tablespoon.

CURRY BASE
1. PUT WATER AND A DASH OF VEG OIL IN A POT. BRING TO  A SLOW BOIL AND ADD 2.5 Kg PEELED & CHOPPED ONIONS, 3 CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI (NO SEEDS) AND A HALF INCH PIECE CHOPPED GINGER, ABOUT 1 THUMBS WORTH. (WATER NOT QUITE COVERING ONIONS.) BOIL FOR 1HR WITH LID ON.
2. STRAIN IN SEIVE AND PUREE THE ONION MIX.
3. HEAT 700ML OIL IN A STOCKPOT OVER MED/HIGH HEAT, THEN ADD 3/4-1TBLS MINCED GARLIC, 4 GREEN CARDAMOM PODS, 5 BAY LEAVES, 3 PIECES CASSIA BARK, 4 CLOVES. STIR THE POT, AND DO NOT LET THE SPICES STICK! AFTER A MINUTE OR SO ADD ONION PUREE IN BATCHES AND PUT LID ON. USE HIGH HEAT WHILE ADDING ONIONS, THEN LOWER HEAT TO SIMMER. WATCH OUT, IT WILL SPLATTER! THE MAIN IDEA HERE IS TO KEEP THE OIL HOT, SO YOU'RE FRYING THE ONION MIX, NOT BOILING IT. AS ALWAYS, DURING THE REST OF THE COOKING FROM HERE ON, MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGULARLY STIRRING THE POT, AND THAT NOTHING IS BURNING!
4. STIR AND SIMMER 3/4 HOUR THEN ADD 1.5 TBLS SALT TO POT.
5. COOK FURTHER 1 1/2 HOURS TILL ONIONS GO BROWN. WHILE THIS IS COOKING, PREPARE THE PASTE IN THE NEXT STEP..
6. MIX THESE TOGETHER IN A BOWL..125g TOMATO PASTE, 1-2TSP CHILLI POWDER, 1.5 TBLS TURMERIC, 1TSP NUTMEG, 1/2 TSP SWEET PAPRIKA, 3 TSP CARDAMOM POWDER, 2 1/4 TBLS CUMMIN POWDER, 1 TSP GROUND WHITE PEPPER, 1/2 TSP CINNAMON POWDER. THE CHEF TOLD ME THAT HE USES MORE CUMMIN, AND LESS CARDAMOM, THAN SOME OTHER INDIAN CHEFS. YOU MAY TRY TO VARY THESE 2 SPICE AMOUNTS FOR DIFFERENT RESULTS. THIS CHEF SAID THE CUMMIN AMOUNT SHOULD BE ROUGHLY 3 TIMES THE CARDAMOM AMOUNT, AND HE DIDN'T USE ANY CORIANDER POWDER. WHEN YOUR 1 1/2 HOURS IS UP, ADD THIS PASTE TO YOUR POT.
7. SIMMER FURTHER 15 MINUTES
8. (OPTIONAL STEP) ADD MILK TO 100G CRUSHED UNSALTED RAW CASHEWS. (WILL MAKE A MILKY CONSISTENCY.) THEN ADD THIS MIXTURE TO POT. THIS WILL SLIGHTLY SWEETEN YOUR BASE.
9. SIMMER FURTHER 10 MINUTES AND YOUR DONE! TASTE AND ADD A LITTLE MORE SALT IF NEEDED.