Surnali / Sweet Dosa/ Jaggery Pancakes

A perfect no egg pancakes belonging to South India can actually be a perfect breakfast for kids and adults too. Unlike traditional pancakes which do not need fermentation, this batter actually undergoes a fermentation process to give us a Supersoft Dosa. Surnali is a common breakfast in many Konkani household. “Godu Surnali” (Godu means sweet in konkani) is the sweet version. Excluding the jaggery part gives you the savoury Version of “Godu Surnali” that is “Cheppi Surnali” (cheppi means savour in konkani)

I usually make Surnali when I make butter with the collected fresh cream in my kitchen. There remains a lot of buttermilk in the process and I do not like to waste it. Instead I make Surnali which goes super well with the homemade butter.

I have added 1 tbsp of urad dal as well to give the extra thickness and softness and reduced the amount of baking soda. Traditionally fresh turmeric or turmeric stick is soaked along with the other ingredients and ground together next. I did not find fresh turmeric and so i have used turmeric powder instead. If you have fresh turmeric grind it along with other ingredients and if you have dried turmeric soak it with other ingredients and grind.

Ingredients:

To be soaked:

Dosa rice / Sona masuri – 2 cups

Thick poha/Beatened rice – 3/4 cup

Urad dal / Split black lentil (husked) – 1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds / Methi – 1 tsp

Buttermilk – to soak all the ingredients

For Batter:

Baking soda – 1/8 tsp (optional)

Cooked rice – 2 tbsp (optional)

Grated coconut – 2 tbsp

Jaggery – 1/2 cup (grated) (use according to your taste)

Turmeric powder – 2 tsp(soaked in water )

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Method:

Part 1 : Soak the ingredients mentioned above in the list “to be soaked”

Part 2 : Grind to a smooth batter

Part 3 : Make dosas on a griddle.

Part 1 : Soak ingredients

In a mixing bowl take all the ingredients mentioned below the title ” to be soaked”
Wash it thoroughly with water 2 to 3 times untill the water runs clear
Now add buttermilk to this and mix well.
The ingredients should be completely immersed in buttermilk.
Cover and set this aside for minimum 4 hours

Part 2 : Grind to a smooth paste

Now drain the soaked ingredients. Do not discard the buttermilk.
In a grinder, add the soaked ingredients, jaggery, soaked turmeric water, cooked rice and grated coconut.
Add appropriate quantity of buttermilk and grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste
Set aside in warm temperature to ferment overnight.

Part 3 : Making dosas

The next morning, lightly whisk the batter
Add very little salt, 2 to 3 tsp oil and 1/8 tsp baking powder to the batter and mix thoroughly.
Add 1 tsp of sugar to get the beautiful brown colour (this step is optional)
Mix very well
Now heat a dosa tawa/ griddle, pour a small portion of the batter using a laddle and spread it lightly
The dosa should neither be too thick nor thin.
Drizzle some oil around.
Cover the dosa and cook for a while
Use a turner and flip the other side if you wish to
Serve hot with butter

Tips:

Cooking flame plays a very important role in getting the right colour n texture. As we add jaggery, the high flame burns the dosa and gives bitter taste.So you have to keep shifting from low to medium and medium to low flame when you make dosas. This is very important
Use jaggery according to your sweet preference
Use baking soda only if the batter did not rise enough. Due to weather conditions, the batter sometimes do not ferment as expected.
When you add grated jaggery while grinding, they tend to turn liquid. So go easy with the amount of buttermilk you add while grinding.
If you do not soak turmeric powder before grinding, the dosa will end up having the raw smell of turmeric powder. Soak them for at least 15 minutes.