My first attempt at a dry curry

I'm a big fan of Indian cuisine and my favourite dish of all time is the potato and mushroom curry from the Modern Indian Buffet (any Hamiltonians will have been there at least once). It seems silly for me to go to a buffet just to enjoy one dish so I'm endeavouring to reproduce it at home. Sunday night was my first attempt. It turned out alright – it had the heat but not the spice. I'll let you know what I did and I would appreciate any and all suggestions as to what I was missing. Gabriel and I both think we forgot the ginger. What else?

Step 1: I prep'ed 4 red-skinned waxy potatoes, 1 medium onion, 4 cloves garlic and 250 g of mushrooms.

Step 2: I sautéed the onion in 2 tbsp oil until soft and translucent. Next I added the mushrooms and cooked them until they gave up their liquid and reduced in size.

Step 2a: While the mushrooms were cooking, I started cooking the cubed potatoes in the microwave for 4 minutes.

Step 3: I added the spices (1 ½ tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp chili powder, and a dash of crushed red pepper flake), the potatoes and 1 cup of water. I stirred the mixture to evenly distribute the spices, put on a lid and let the potatoes finish cooking for about 5 minutes.

Step 4: I removed the lid, added a dash of garam masala, and let the remaining water evaporate.