Brazilian Red Snapper and Lemon Rice

I recently was invited to a Brazilian feast at my girlfriends house. She is from Brazil, and her sister flew in from Brazil to visit. When this happens she invites everyone over for a feast cooked by her sister, who is an amazing cook! She is so sweet and vibrant, I just love being in the room with her. I like to sit at the counter and watch them cook away. I didn't have my camera with me, so I used my cell phone to try to get a little of the action. 

They were busy for hours and the food was amazing. I wish I would have brought my camera! We have video of all the Brazilian dancing going on in the kitchen, but I will refrain from posting that here. It was so nice to get out and spend time with a lot of my girlfriends. It has been so long! We were all given scarves from Brazil! Here is a picture of us wearing our scarves! 

The flavors of her food are so good! It inspired me to make a dish that is rooted from Brazil. After reading through tons of recipes. I settled on Goan Sauce. Goan cooking generally involves liberal amounts of spices, giving the dishes a distinctive aroma. The most commonly used spices included cumin, coriander, chili's garlic, vinegar and turmeric. Their food is simple and most of the dishes are chili hot, spicy and pungent. And goan food is never complete without fish. The flavors in this style of cooking scream everything my husband and I love. It also was a plus that I got some fresh caught snapper. My advice... MAKE THIS DISH! My husband said it was one of the best meals I have ever made. I loved it too. Remember it is spicy! 

Gluten-Free Brazilian Red Snapper and Lemon Rice
adapted from Apple Mint2 Red Snapper fish fillets 
For the Marinade:
5 tbsp white vinegar
7-8 dried red chillis deseeded and soaked
4-5 whole black peppercorns
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp chopped garlic
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp coriander
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

For the Lemon rice:
1 TBSP canola oil
1 cup basmati rice
1 large red onion chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 jalapeno chopped
2 bay leaves
½ tsp turmeric
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Handful of chopped cilantro

For the fish marinade:, 
Add all the ingredients in a food processor, Blend till it forms a smooth paste. Massage it on to the fish and leave for about an hour. 

For the Lemon Rice:

Cook your rice according to the directions on the package (usually it is one cup of rice to 2 cups water and 1tsp salt).

Prepare your ingredients.

Take a frying pan, and heat the oil over medium high heat. 

Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to splutter, add the bay leaves, onions, and jalapeno. 

Fry for about 2 minutes and add then add the rice. 

Sprinkle the salt, curry, and turmeric and mix well. Fry for about 5 minutes more on medium flame. Turn off the heat now, add the lemon juice and cilantro and mix well.

For the fish, Slice your filets in half, to make 4. My filets were very large and would not fit into the pan otherwise. Add oil to a hot skillet. Add your marinated snapper. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side on high heat, or until cooked through.

 Serve on a bed of hot lemon rice.

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