“Maa ei naw tomar Soru Chakli (Maa Here is your Soru Chakli)” and those 6 words were enough to make me happy!
The girl in her childhood and adolescent; well-pampered by each member of her household at times remember those beautiful days ended on saying “Koruna ar ekta daw (Koruna I want one more).”
The wintery mornings were good with the dose of the Bengali style gobindobhog rice and Kolai Daal Crêpe prepared with love; Soru chakli, as we call those. I used to creep into the big fat kitchen for the Pithe. I loved to see her making the pithe one by one with care and love. The Earthen Stove; the smell of coal and freshly prepared buttery soft Crêpe was sheer bliss.
In my North-Calcutta residence, we used to have a house-help who worked for us for more than 35 years. She was “Karuna Mashi” for the entire household but not to me. She very gladly called me Maa and she was Koruna for me always. During the winters, Karuna used to make a super-soft Roti like Pithe, Soru Chakli. Almost every single day there was a casserole filled with the Soru Chakli on our dining table! Seeing our love for the fluffy Soru Chakli, my mother and aunts used to store Gobindobhog rice and Kolai Daal (Urad daal) for Karuna. Soft Soru Chakli prepared by Koruna along with a spicy potato side was my favorite. Chordada (my cousin) however, always liked it with Nolen Gur.
Mashi left Kolkata a few years back and settled in her village. This was the time I left Kolkata for higher study and somehow stopped having Soru Chakli. It was back in 2011 when I again had Soru Chakli, though not prepared by Koruna! At this point in time, we were in Gurgaon, newly married. One day our landlady came with a plate full of something very much similar to the Soru Chakli Koruna used to make. Auntie came up with Mangshor Jhol as a Side! She informed me that they call it Soru Chakuli Pitha in Odisha and I found the recipe exactly similar to our very own Soru Chakli.
Soru Chakli Pithe or Soru Chakuli Pitha is a famous Crêpe like pancake prepared with rice and lentil and is a winter favorite in the Eastern part of India. It is very similar to homemade dosa however, differences are also there. It never has been a special prepared on the Makar Sankranti at my home but always a winter breakfast favorite. These days I make it regularly at home given Pasta liked it a lot. Mehebub also cherished it.
The recipe is simple and as I already mentioned Rice and lentil are two important ingredients. In my place, I have always seen using Gobindobhog rice to make it. It gives amazing flavor to the Crêpe. If not available you can use normal basmati rice. I use ghee for shallow frying the Soru Chakli which can obviously be replaced with oil. Needless to say, Ghee gives the aroma which cannot be found in the oil-fried version.
Koruna used to cut the stem of an eggplant to smear the ghee over the good old iron pan we had. It was obviously a unique idea to use the stem of Eggplant. However, I use my silicon brush to smear the ghee; which is easy to use and also consume lesser ghee to make the Pithe. In addition to this, I use a good quality non-steak tawa to make the pithe instead of the iron pan.
- Serves: 110 Soru Chakli
- Serving size: 2
- Calories: 452
- Fat: 6.1g
- Saturated fat: 3.4g
- Sugar: 0.9g
- Sodium: 123mg
- Fiber: 12.8g
- Protein: 15.3g
- Cholesterol: 13mg
- Gobindobhog Rice: 2 Cup
- Kolai Dal/ Urad Dal: 1 Cup
- Fennel Seed/ Mouri: 1 Tsp.
- Salt: ¼ Tsp.
- Ghee: 2 tbsp.
- Soak Koklai dal/ Urad Dal in water overnight.
- Soak Rice for around 30 minutes in water.
- Make a smooth paste combining both rice and lentil by adding around 3-4 Tbsp. of water.
- The batter will have a similar consistency as dosa batter.
- Mix Salt and Fennel seed with the batter and leave it for an hour before making the Soru chakli.
- The mixture needs to be fermented a bit.
- Take a non-stick pan and heat the pan on medium flame.
- Brush Ghee over the pan using a silicon brush or you can use the upper side of the Eggplant.
- Pour a medium ladle full of batter over the ghee spread the batter to make a half inch thick disk.
- the Crêpe will start forming.
- Cover the Crêpe with a lid and cook on low flame for a minute.
- drizzle some Ghee on the top of the Crêpe and using a spatula turn it to cook from the other side.
- Don't overcook the Soru Chakli; it will not be as crispy as dosa.
- Shallow fry till the golden brown color forms.
- Take it out from the pan and make rest of the Crêpes.
- Serve it hot with either Nolen Gur or your choice of Potato side or even with Mangshor Jhol.
Gobindobhog Rice can be replaced with Basmati rice
To Serve Soru Chakli:
Soru Chakuli Pitha, as I already mentioned is a fluffy Crêpe. It goes amazing with both sweet and sour sides. You can serve it with any of the dishes mentioned below:
-
Kumror Chakka (This is what I have used while clicking the pictures)
-
Mangshor Jhol
-
Khejur Gurer Rosogolla-r Rosh
-
Nolen Gur obviously goes superbly with Soru Chakli Pithe
Have you tried the Soru Chakli Pithe Recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
Do let me know how it came out. Also, I would love to see a picture of the same which you can share here on dolonchttrj@gmail.com or in Instagram you can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar or can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
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