There's a great little Indian cooking channel on the Roku box (if you use that technology.) Puts you right inside the kitchen of Indian cooks. It's all on the web too.
As per usual, I will take the nuts and bolts of their cooking method then tweak the recipe to use what I have on hand or to what my taste preference dictates (fewer chilli peppers for instance, due to sensitive tummy).
I really think this is the secret to all cooking. See what works in broad strokes, then adapt for your table. Recipes, although based on chemistry and the alchemy of the properties of foods, should not be held to as hard and fast rules. They are guidelines. No oven holds heat at the same temperature. Few pots and pans have similar bottoms and shapes. Gas or electric stovetops change everything. And if you get a "celebrity" chef's recipe from their book that you hope to emulate, you can't expect it to turn out just like the dish you ordered in their restaurant. The reason? They often leave out a few secret ingredients in the printed recipe. (I got that tidbit direct from a celebrity chef's mouth.)
So, making the dish your own is always the goal. And also the adventure.
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