3 in 1 Surnali a Spongy Dosa.

Three in One Surnali ; A delicious soft spongy / fluffy dosa in three different flavors ... Sweet ~ Spicy ~ Kajoor (Dates) flavored ... Enjoy these mini surnali with a dallop of fresh homemade butter ... they taste simply awesome ... Yummy Yumz ....

Surnali is a traditional soft, spongy, fluffy dosa prepared out of fermented rice soaked in butter milk (Chaas / Taak / Curds) . Usually these are prepared sweet and its one of children's favorite dosa. Both spicy and sweet are prepared in Konkani Saraswat homes and relished by young and old alike. I have always wanted to try out a different flavor for the same for some time and few year back I tried the same with addition of dates / khajoor and my friends and their kids simply loved it. I had almost forgotten about it, when my friend kid who has now grown up came home on vacation, came to my home along with his Mom and asked me how to prepare this. He had not forgotten the dosa he had eaten many years back. Thanks to him, I too remembered and thought of adding the same into the blog. So here is the additional flavor khajoor Surnali for all of you who would like your children to enjoy the same. This dosa remains good in tiffin box too. So go ahead and enjoy this one with your family and friends.

** For the Surnali Recipe :  Wash 2 cups of rice well. Strain and add 3 glasses of semi thick butter milk (not sour), 1 tsp methi seeds and let soak for 2 hours. Add ½ cup of of thin beaten rice to this and let soak of another 10-15 minutes. Add ½ cup of coconut, salt to taste and grind this to a thick paste, not too smooth slightly chiroti rava texture. This is the basic surnali recipe. 

** For Sweet Surnali : Add about 1 cup of grated jaggery while grinding.

** For Spicy Surnali : Add some grated ginger, green chillies and some crushed pepper to the ground batter.

** For Dates Surnali : Add about ¾ cup of grated jaggery while grinding and add 2 heaped tblsp of dates syrup and mix well.

** The batter should be smooth and thick enough, so do not make it too thin. Remove the batter in a large stainless steel vessel. The vessel should be larger by at least 4 times in ratio to the batter, as the batter rises on fermentation. Lastly add ¼ tsp of cooking soda powder. Cover and let the batter rest for a good 8-10 hours for fermenting before you start using it to make dosas. 

** Before you start preparing to take the dosa, mix the batter well. Sometimes the rice settles at the bottom and the batter is thinner on top. So mixing well is necessary.

** Heat a dosa tava / pan, when hot, lower the heat, spread a tsp of oil lightly greasing the pan, then pour 2 ladle full of batter (about ½ cup) on the center of the tava / pan. Do not attempt to spread the dosa. The batter spreads on its own into a nice round circle. Add a few drops of oil all round the outer edges of the dosa, cover and cook on low-medium heat till the top side is cooked and translucent. You can just touch it with the tip of your fingers to check and see if the batter is still wet.

** Note : Add lesser batter if you want to make small mini dosas. The method however remains the same for all three types of Surnali.

** Do not raise the heat to high as the batter contains jaggery, in which case the dosa get burnt at the bottom and on the edges too. This dosa is cooked only on one side, so do not flip it over to cook on the top side. 

** The top side gets cooked as the dosa is cooked covered. The steam within helps the dosa cook just right. Gently loosen through the side edges and lift the dosa and put it gently on a plate and serve with a dollop of butter. Repeat the process for the remaining batter.

** You can keep the remaining batter in the fridge and remove dosa the next day too. This dosa is enjoyed immensely by all children.

** Delicious Surnali, A soft spongy Dosa is ready to be served. Remove gently and serve hot with fresh homemade butter. This dosa tastes best with butter. Enjoy this with your family and friends.

Note: 
 ** Keep the batter in a large vessel as it tends to ferment and overflow.

** Add a pinch of cooking soda powder at the end in the vessel and keep overnight. Soda powder is added in original method’s. However I do not add as I do not find it necessary if the batter is left to ferment for about 12 hours. 

** You can add fresh bread crumbs (of about 2 breads), 1 cup soaked kurmura instead of pova. You can even add 1 cup of pova instead of ½ cup and reduce the coconut to ¼ cup instead of ½ cup.

** If the batter is too thin the next day you can add a bit of Bombay rava to it.