Part of the problem with curry is that you need to cook the curry powder -
and that is typically done in oil. I've found that if you don't cook the
powder, it is gritty.
My favorite way to cook it now that I'm doing the ff thing is to saute onions
in liquid (water, stock or wine) and to put the curry powder in when the
onions are about half way done and then to make sure that I cook the curry
powder at least 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly and adding a little
liquid if the mixture starts to stick then proceeding with the recipe from
there.
Cheri