If you are new to making fermented batter which is popular in South Indian cuisine, please read the post in its entirety. I have shared a lot of tips and tricks to prepare this dish.

Pumpkin Surnali is a gluten-free, fermented rice pancake sweetened with jaggery and flavored with pumpkin puree. Soft, Spongy, and delicious pancakes for breakfast. Enjoy with lightly salted butter.

It is that time of the year. Pumpkin season is upon us! In a few week's time, daylight savings kick in for us and we will get ready to welcome winter wonderland. For now, we are enjoying the deep blue skies, the crisp chill in the air, and nature's confetti! Well, we do have forest fires here in Colorado which is extremely disheartening. The smoke smell is so intense some of the days and we are cleaning up the ash from our patio.

Keeping all those who are directly affected by the fires and the firefighters in our thoughts. Let's all pledge to make this world a better place.

**This pumpkin surnali recipe post may contain affiliate links. Read my Disclaimer here.

Jump to:

• ingredients list
• steps by step instructions
• serving suggestions
• additional notes
• looking for more breakfast ideas?
• Pumpkin Surnali

what is pumpkin surnali?

Surnali is a traditional breakfast item from the Konkani cuisine It is loaded with two of the staple ingredients from the cuisine namely rice and coconut. Pumpkin surnali is an adaption of that traditional recipe to use pumpkin puree as flavor.

Surnali can be godi (sweet) or cheppi (not sweet). When you make the sweet version, you sweeten it with jaggery. And to this sweetened batter, I added some pumpkin puree to make these super soft, spongy and delicious gluten free, fermented pancakes.

We have a small video at the end of the recipe so that you can see clearly how we at Framed Recipes make these pancakes.

ingredients list

This dish requires a little bit of planning to prepare. Soak the rice, then grind with coconut yogurt and poha. Then fermented to result in these soft and spongy rice pancakes.

• Rice
• Coconut
• Yogurt
• Jaggery
• Pumpkin puree
• Poha
• Methi Seeds (Fenugreek Seeds)
• Haldi / Turmeric Powder (to give that beautiful golden color)
• Baking Soda
• Salt to taste

rice

I use sona masoori rice to prepare this pancake.

coconut

Use either freshly grated coconut or frozen and thawed coconut to make the dish. Fresh coconuts are readily available in ethnic section of the grocery stores or in your local Indian store. Looking for frozen coocnut - best bet would be Indian stores. i have seen frozen coconut in Walmart's dessert topping section.

yogurt

I use home made plain yogurt, but you can use store bought plain yogurt in the preparation.

jaggery

Jaggery is a sweetener that is popular in India. it is known to have higher iron content than regular sugar. It has a very distinct taste. Typically, jaggery has many impurities and needs to be melted with a little water and strained before using in recipes.

Jaggery usually is sold as huge lumps/balls or as pyramids (achu vellam). Sometimes, you might find organic jaggery in granular form which are free of impurities. yay!

As you will see in the video, I have directly used the jaggery powder in the recipe. that is because what I have used is organic impurity free jaggery. Look for these in your local Indian stores.

Yet another thing to keep in mind is that jaggery comes in different colors - light brown to dark brown and sometimes could vary in sweetness also. The end color of the dish you prepare with jaggery depends on these aspects too.

One of the frequent questions we get at Framed Recipes is whether brown sugar is same as jaggery. No. Brown sugar is not same as jaggery. They are different in the way they are manufactured. Jaggery is a like an unrefined sugar. The same quantity of brown sugar and jaggery will vary in sweetness also. Read more about jaggery and brown sugar here.

pumpkin puree

I have used store bought Libby's pumpkin puree to prepare the dish. You can use any brand of pumpkin puree or you can steam and mash some pumpkin to make puree and use it for authentic pumpkin taste.

So, if you are looking for something new to try with pumpkin this year, give these pancakes a try.

poha

Poha is thin rice flakes. Rice is parboiled, flattened and then dried to make think flakes. Poha has abland taste on its own, but is useful to make quick dishes since it cooks very fast, you can make a quick meal in minutes.

There are different varieties of poha, - thick and thin - and different colored ones - depending on the rice used to make these flakes. I have used thin white poha in the pumpkin surnali recipe. You can source thin in any Indian store.

methi seeds

Methi seeds (Fenugreek Seeds) are essential in an Indian pantry, They are like these powerhouse of nutrition and a little goes a long way. These are used in both north Indian and South Indian cooking in a verity of ways. Seeds are used as such, their sprouts are also used to make sabjis (have a bitter taste), the leaves are used in a variety of dishes and dried leaves (called kasuri methi ) is also very popular.

I have shared a potato fry recipe that uses Kasuri Methi.

steps by step instructions

As I mentioned earlier, it takes a little planning to prepare the dish. We usually spread the steps across two days.

Step 1 /Day 1

• Wash rice and soak along with methi seeds for about 4-5 hours
• Grind the soaked rice with coconut, yogurt and poha.
• Mix with jaggery and haldi and salt.
• Keep it to ferment for 6-8 hours

Step 2 /Day 2

• To the fermented batter, add the pumpkin puree
• Mix some baking soda
• Make pancakes

surnali prep Tip

• Soak the rice and methi seeds in the morning/mid-morning.
• Grind in the evening
• Ferment overnight
• Mix the pumpkin puree next day morning. Make pancakes.

In South India, where dosa (thin rice and lentil crepes) and Idli are everyday breakfast items, this is kinda the norm - where soaking the ingredients happens in the morning soon after breakfast and grinding happens in the evening. The fermented batter will be ready the next day for breakfast. It is built into the routine of the day. If you are not used to soaking and fermenting batters, this might take a while to get used to. But once you have the pattern recognized, this will just become a second nature to you. Trust me!

serving suggestions

Sweet Surnali is typically served with with some lightly salted butter. The lightly sated butter enhances the sweetness form the jaggery and pumpkin and it is delicious to have a breakfast or brunch.

additional notes

• 1 cup = 250 ml. Typical US cups are 240 ml. You can use these US cups without any drastic difference in the recipe.
• Prep time of 5 hrs is the soaking time and the additional time indicates the time required for fermentation.
• Edit 10/09/2020: The Surnali batter is thick. For the given measurements, I use about ¼ cup water to grind. Do not pour all at once. Use water a little at a time to grind the batter. The exact quantity of water depends on the water content in the rice after draining, the water content in yogurt etc. It will also thin down a little when you mix the jaggery.
• We have strived to provide measurements in grams and cups as accurate as possible. there could be slight changes depending on the weighing scale, brands of ingredients etc.
• These are best served immediately. That being said, I have stored extra pancakes in the refrigerator. You can reheat them in a microwave for a few seconds. To make them spongy while reheating a microwave, try covering them with a damp kitchen towel.
• Surnali is typically cooked only one side and not flipped.
• I have used a non-stick skillet in the video to make these pancakes. So, I did not grease the skillet/griddle to make the pancakes. If you are using a cast iron skillet, grease the skillet with oil before you add the batter.

Do try these super soft and spongy gluten-free fermented rice pumpkin pancakes.

looking for more breakfast ideas?

• Peach Yogurt Breakfast Bowl
• Bisi Bele Bath
• Avocado Toast (3 ways)
• Khara Pongal