Curry in a hurry

Fish curries are a delicate thing.

Add your fish to the curry sauce and vegetables at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, and you end up with fish curry mush. It tastes fine, but has all the visual appeal of slop. This is because as it cooks, fish tends to flake apart.

One trick for avoiding this is to steam the fish, rather than saut? or simmer it in the other curry ingredients. But when you're cooking on deadline, no one wants to dirty additional pans to steam the fish on its own.

The solution is to prepare the curry base - vegetables saut?ed in olive oil, seasoned with curry powder and doused with a can of coconut milk - then set the fish on top of that, cover the pan and let it steam while the other ingredients cook beneath it.

The result was incredibly moist and flavorful fish that held together throughout cooking and serving. This produced not just a more attractive dish, but a better tasting one, too.

For the rice, a nice short-grain brown stands up well to the assertive flavors of a curry. And don't be afraid to doctor it. For this recipe, a blend of brown rice, quick-cook barley and flax seeds were used, but any variety would work.

When considering curry powders, ditch most of the options at conventional grocers. Instead, head to an Indian or specialty market, where you will find a dizzying array of curry powders.

Curry powder isn't a single seasoning; it is a blend of seasonings, and there are many, many varieties. Most are labeled to indicate their heat level, so select one appropriate for your palate.

Though cod worked nicely in this recipe, any white fish could be substituted.

Quick cod curry

Start to finish: 30 minutes

1 cup brown rice (or mix of rice varieties and other grains)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, cut into thin rounds
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
2 teaspoons curry powder (more or less to taste)
14-ounce can light coconut milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large cod fillets (about 3/4 pound each)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown rice and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce to a simmer and cook 25 minutes, or until rice is cooked through and the water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onion, carrot and both bell peppers. Saut? until the onion is tender, about five minutes. Add the peas and saut? another minute.

Sprinkle the curry powder over the vegetables and saut? another two minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Cook for three minutes, then season with salt and pepper.