How to cook bell peppers until they are VERY tender, but not broken down? I had a curry dish on a restaurant, can't remember the name of the dish, but it was something in the lines of "vegetarian pepper curry".

It consisted almost entirely of loosely chopped (3cm pieces) bell peppers of various colours, in curry (coconut milk + spices) sauce.

Nothing special about the dish, except for the tenderness of the peppers. They were soft in a way you could spread them over bread, except for the skins holding them together. But in the curry, they held their shape perfectly.

Every time I cook peppers for any extended period of time, they separate from the skins and melt into the sauce (tomato/curry).

How can this soft texture be achieved without breaking up the peppers?

Is it just technique? (i.e. not stirring or something, maybe the timing of putting them in the curry)
I'm not sure that this is how the restaurant did it, but perhaps that kind of texture could be achieved by blanching and freezing the pepper pieces, then reheating them in a microwave just prior to adding them to the sauce and serving. Blanching would ensure that they don't taste completely raw, and freezing would make them "mushier" without ruining the shape by extended cooking.

I haven't tried this myself, so no guarantees.