My daughter and I are obsessed with watching Master Chef Australia. This reality TV series, based on the original British MasterChef began in April 2009 and is still running strong. The format has varied a bit from season to season, but the basic concept is that 24 non-professional cooks are pitted against one another. One by one, through various challenges and eliminations, their numbers are reduced until one reigns supreme and is awarded the title of Australia’s “Master Chef.”

We find this version of Master Chef much more enjoyable and relatable than all the others (and we’ve watched more than a few). The Australia version allows us to watch the cooks plan, assemble ingredients, prep, and take that concept to the final product.

It’s actually instructional, and (more than a few times) I find my 60-years-of-cooking self imploring a contestant to take another approach, use another pan, scrap Plan A …

Why am I telling you this?

Well, the locality (Australia) brings more than a few experienced Asian home cooks into the competition, and they reward us with the many, many ways of preparing and presenting curry dishes.

Curry is not one singular taste; curry is a multi-dimensional experience of the perfect blend of sweet, sour, tangy, earthy tastes with exciting pops of heat. It’s an explosion of flavor and one that, until Beth and I began watching our fave TV show, we had not dared experience.

We’re still newbies in this curry thing. But last night I presented my family with this dish, and in Master Chef fashion, they gave me a 10/10.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 3 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
• 6 ounces coconut milk
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes
• 4 5- to 6-ounce boneless skinless cod filets
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 fresh lime
• chopped cilantro or basil leaves for garnish

Instructions

(1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. (149 degrees C.)

(2) Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and red curry pastes and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is fragrant and begins to stick to the pan.

Red Thai curry paste and ginger paste sautéing

(3) Add the coconut milk and tomatoes to the pan and reduce the heat to low to just barely maintain a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to burst, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

(4) Pat the cod filets dry with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Nestle the filets in the tomato/curry sauce. Bake in the oven until the cod is done — firm to the touch and easily pierced with the tip of a knife. This should take about 18 to 20 minutes.

You’re right — I used 3 filets instead of 4 because there are only 3 of us eating but I didn’t reduce the amount of sauce (it’s almost slurp-able).

(5) Squeeze the fresh lime over the fish and garnish with fresh cilantro and/or basil leaves.

This is not a bold curry with layer upon layer of flavors. It’s really quite tame — let’s call it a curry “starter kit.” After our experience with creating this dish, my daughter and I have plans to expand our repertoire, injecting flavor into our future curries with tamarind, curry leaves, fresh chili peppers, cardamom … and?