Surnali is a south Indian Konkani style fluffy, spongy rice pancake made either sweet (called godu or sweet surnali; sweetened with jaggery or unrefined cane sugar) or savory (cheppi surnali; without the jaggery). These delicious and soft south Indian style pancakes are normally and traditionally served with dollops of fresh homemade butter or ghee (clarified butter) and some Indian pickles and chutney. Indians do not prefer anything sweet as a breakfast dish. We usually eat our dosas, idlis, puris, upma etc which are all savory. Godu surnali is an exception in a Mangalorean Konkani household! Sweet, spongy and fluffy rice pancakes with yogurt in the batter and sweetened with healthy jaggery conjures up wonderful childhood memories when my mother used to make the sweet ones for me and savory for my father.
Even today, the same tradition carries on! I make the sweet version for me and my sons (almost always enjoyed with spicy Indian pickles) and my husband prefers only the savory surnali with some spicy coconut chutney like hing chutney, onion chutney, peanut chutney or coriander chutney on the side.
So, with one batter, you get to enjoy both sweet and savory surnalis. The ingredients are very basic; just rice, flattened or beaten rice or poha and some yogurt or curds. Soak rice along with some fenugreek seeds or methi (this not only is healthy, but gives an amazing flavor and porous texture to the pancake) and blend along with poha soaked in yogurt to a smooth and thick paste and stir in baking soda (helps in fermentation, especially in cold weather).
To make sweet surnali, just remove a part of the batter and mix in some powdered jaggery. Add some Turmeric powder; it gives a beautiful color! To the rest of the batter, add some more salt and leave both batters for overnight fermentation. Make soft surnalis the next day.
Enjoy south Indian Konkani style sweet and savory surnalis any time now with my easy recipe! For more south Indian breakfast, try: Instant Rava Idli Ragi Rava dosa Ven Pongal Instant suji/semolina appe etc.
If you like my posts and recipes, do not forget to Pin, Share, comment in the box below or like my Facebook page
2 cups rice 2 cups poha 2 cups yogurt/curd/dahi 1 teaspoon methi/fenugreek seeds 1 cup jaggery/unrefined cane sugar Baking soda, 2 large pinches Salt to taste
Instructions Notes Do not add too much jaggery which will dilute the batter that it will not spread thick like pancakes. If it does get too dilute, stir in some rava/semolina/suji and problem solved! This surnali can be roasted on both sides or only one side.
