Coconut chile surnoli

A Goan rice pancake with a coconut crumb

Surnoli is a spongy pancake of rice and coconut that the recipe presents as a Goan dish. It is cooked on one side only, in a lidded nonstick pan, so the top is set by the steam trapped under the lid and the underside browns. The pancake is served with a savoury chutney, and the recipe suggests coconut-coriander or mango. It is a snack or breakfast dish, not a sweet.

The batter is more than a flour batter. Soaked short-grain rice and fenugreek are blended with yogurt, poha (flattened rice), coconut flakes and turmeric, so the coconut and the yogurt give the pancake its moisture and its sourness, and the poha gives it a softer crumb. Green chilli and red onion are used as toppings in this version.

What makes the batter rise

The rise comes from two sources. The live yogurt carries lactic acid bacteria and yeasts into the batter, and the batter is held for eight to twelve hours on the multicooker's Yogurt function so that it becomes bubbly and almost doubles in volume. The recipe also adds citric acid and baking soda just before the rise, which release gas chemically, so part of the lift does not depend on the culture. The sources do not identify the organisms, so the fermentation type is recorded as mixed rather than as a single process.

The soaking of the rice and fenugreek for eight hours, and the rest after blending, soften the grains so the batter blends smoothly. The citric acid is a chemical addition in this recipe, not a souring step by itself.

Using the multicooker

The recipe uses an electric multicooker's Yogurt function on the Normal setting, and it names no model. The manufacturer's manual for the IP-DUO60/80 gives 36-43°C (97-109°F) for Normal on that model. That figure applies to that appliance and is not a temperature the recipe states. Other models and other settings will differ, and the batter's own temperature is the figure that matters.

The batter is cooked in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, about half a cup for a five-inch pancake, with half a teaspoon of ghee. The pancake is covered and cooked for about three minutes, until it is set and bubbles show on top. It is not flipped. The recipe does not give a storage time for the batter or the cooked pancakes.

Open questions

No model is named for the recipe, so the incubation temperature is not known. The ginger is listed among the ingredients, but the steps do not say where it goes. No Goan-sourced surnoli recipe was read, so the recipe is one manufacturer-hosted adaptation, and the local preparation may differ. No storage time is stated.