By Yewande Komolafe
- Total Time
- About 3 to 6 hours, plus 24 hours’ fermentation
- Rating
- 4(91)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A flat skillet cake made from a batter of fermented rice, sinasir is a recipe from Northern Nigeria similar in texture to Somali cambaabur and Ethiopian injera. Its spongy texture makes it an excellent vehicle for sopping up soups, stews or chunks of beef suya. It is also quite lovely when eaten as a snack, drizzled lightly with honey. This version gets a bit of nuttiness from the short-grain brown rice, and the scent of toasted rice will waft through your kitchen as you cook. The fermentation step in the beginning is crucial, as it gives the finished cakes a slight sourness. For a more intense tang, ferment slowly in the refrigerator using the directions below.
Featured in: All You Need for This Crisp-Tender Skillet Cake Is Rice and a Little Time
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Ingredients
Yield:10 cakes
- 2cups short-grain brown rice
- 2teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon instant yeast
- Neutral oil, for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
198 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 3 grams protein; 106 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place rice in a medium bowl and cover with 2 inches of water. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let soak for 1 to 4 hours. The rice grains should plump and break easily after soaking. Using a mesh strainer, completely drain the soaking liquid and move the grains to a blender. Add in 1½ cups water, and process the soaked rice on high speed until it’s a smooth batter. (Makes 2 cups fermented rice paste.) Move the batter to a clean large bowl, cover with a dish towel, and allow to ferment at room temperature for 24 hours. If you want it rather sour, allow it to ferment for up to 24 hours at room temperature, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator to ferment slowly for up to 1 week.
Step
2
See AlsoThe Ultimate Guide to Baking Sourdough Bread [Homemade Recipes] - My Fermented FoodsEinkorn Sourdough Flatbread (Easy Oven Baked Recipe)Ethiopian Injera Bread Recipe - A Spicy PerspectiveHow to Make Injera with All Purpose Flour (Fast and Easy Instant Homemade Injera Recipe) - My Kitchen LittleUsing a whisk or a spatula to combine, add salt to the bowl of fermented brown rice paste. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and yeast, and add ¼ cup warm water. Set aside till foamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Once foamy, mix the yeast mixture into the rice batter, and stir well to combine.
Step
3
Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume and foamy, about 1 hour. (You can also leave the batter to ferment and develop more flavor by letting it rise slowly in the refrigerator over a 12-hour period.)
Step
4
Gently stir the batter, making sure to get any paste that's settled at the bottom of the bowl. Allow to sit uncovered for another 10 minutes at room temperature before frying.
Step
5
To fry, warm up a small (8-inch) well-seasoned or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil. Ladle in ⅓ cup batter and tilt the pan to spread to the edges of the pan. Cover the pan with a lid or strip of foil. Cook until the surface of the cake is translucent and dotted with holes, 1½ minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking until the edges pull away from the pan and the contact surface is a crisp golden brown, 1½ minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and fold the sinasir into a half-moon shape.
Step
6
Repeat Step 5 with the remaining batter, adding ½ teaspoon oil with every new cake and lowering the heat to medium-low as necessary. These can be served savory alongside beef suya, or sweet by drizzling lightly with honey.
Ratings
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out of 5
91
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Cooking Notes
AC
Reminiscent of many beloved South Indian rice crepes (dosa, appam) recipes. I grew up with my mother making it the way described here but without refrigeration or yeast. She would break down jaggery in a little bit of water and add to this mix and let it sit for few more hours before frying it in a little bit of ghee. Slightly sweet and sour. My favorite. I can't wait to make this and try it with suya.
Colombo Cook
This is very similar to a Sri Lankan hopper - https://www.hungrylankan.com/recipes/sri-lankan-hoppers/ although hoppers are cooked in a bowl-shaped pan and often include an egg gently cooked right into the centre - yum!
Timothy sheard
Should I save the soaking liquid when I drain it and use it for the 1 1/2 cups added water? Or go with fresh water? Or what about using oat milk for added liquid? Thank you.
Xander
Wondering if this could be adapted for leftover rice...anyone tried it?
Su
This recipe calls for instant yeast but acts as though it's written for the not-very-consistent active dry yeast of a few decades back, which needed to be "proofed" in warm water -- and often a little sugar -- before being added to a dough. Today's instant yeast can be added directly to the batter without the proofing step, and doesn't need the sugar, though your sinasir may not brown quite as well without it.
Usha
Agree with AC. Very similar to dosai. The only difference being the addition of ground urad dal to the batter. No yeast is necessary for idli or dosa.
Keira
Very pleasant to discover that this recipe was very adaptable to not being made exactly as stated. I used white instead of brown rice. My inlaws are on a septic system and all their water for cooking and drinking is bottled. I reserved the water from soaking the rice and used it in the batter and for proofing the yeast. I soaked the rice the night before, but then forgot to strain and blend before going to bed. I did that step after everyone was up the next day, so it fetmented for less than 12
Susan
Friendly warning: if your blender isn't powerful enough to completely pulverize the rice (so that you still have some texture), frying the batter won't be enough to completely cook the rice, and you'll end up with a stomach-ache from the lectins (natural insecticide & gastric irritant) in uncooked rice. Don't be like me, and be careful!
Su
Definitely don't try it that way! Cooked rice will turn into goo, not batter, when blended.
Becky
I am glad to see I am not the only one with a sticking problem. I don´t have a really good nonstick pan. I will try again and see if a lower temperature works.
Annie
Blend raw rice with uncooked rice. Add yoghurt.
Annie
A lot of recipes blend some precooked rice with the raw rice. Blend together until smooth. Add a few tablespoons plain yoghurt too.
birdpants
Excited to make this! But my little family of two certainly cannot consume the entire recipe in one sitting. Can the batter keep for a few days? Or alternately—if I cook all the batter, can the cakes be reheated?
Susan
Friendly warning: if your blender isn't powerful enough to completely pulverize the rice (so that you still have some texture), frying the batter won't be enough to completely cook the rice, and you'll end up with a stomach-ache from the lectins (natural insecticide & gastric irritant) in uncooked rice. Don't be like me, and be careful!
Seb
First two turned out well, after that they stuck mercilessly to the pan. I was using a well oiled and well seasoned crepe pan. Can anyone help me understand what went wrong? The first two were delicious…would have really enjoyed all 10.
Barbara
How does this hold together? No gluten, no eggs ….
Kathleen
As there is always an abundance of sourdough discard in my kitchen, I'm wondering if a good spoonful of discard could be substituted for the yeast. I'll try it and leave a note.
hoody
After following the directions, the rice didn’t get soft. I ground it, soaked it for a week and it still isn’t soft. I used short grain brown rice..not sure what to do..it is still gritty.
olymom
The directions say to first soak it for 1-4 hours, then after that combine with water in blender. The soaked grains are supposed to get breakable, but not soft like cooked rice.
Marion
Definitely only use uncooked rice. I don’t know if rice flour is a good idea since it will likely make the consistency of the batter different. For people wanting to do something with their leftover rice, get Chinese yeast balls from the Asian market and make fermented rice porridge (yeast balls are round, white balls about the size of a quarter ).
Jay
Just ground batter for Uthappam (a South Indian rice and bean crepe that is allowed to ferment, then made into pancakes with a little bit of oil, and lots of chopped vegetables sprinkled on top while it is still cooking) and have left it to ferment! The recipe sounds like South Indian crepes/pancakes called dosai (or dosa) of which there is a huge variation to suit taste, including the stuffed and folded kind (masala dosai). There is Palappam, made with rice and coconut mixed fermented batter.
Keira
Will this work with white rice? I'm at my in laws and they don't have brown. I guess I'm about to find out! Not sure if it will soak and ferment the same way as brown.
KB
It should work. White rice is commonly used to make this in Nigeria.
Keira
Very pleasant to discover that this recipe was very adaptable to not being made exactly as stated. I used white instead of brown rice. My inlaws are on a septic system and all their water for cooking and drinking is bottled. I reserved the water from soaking the rice and used it in the batter and for proofing the yeast. I soaked the rice the night before, but then forgot to strain and blend before going to bed. I did that step after everyone was up the next day, so it fetmented for less than 12
Keira
Hours. My inlaws are diabetic and don't keep sugar. I proofed the yeast with honey instead (my fil provided a conversion). These were still easy to fry up and outstanding despite all the mods! 10 out of 10 will make again!
leanna
I am rather ignorant about instant yeast. Do I need to use instant yeast or will another kind do? Thank you.
DrewT
You might want to indicate whether the rice is supposed to be cooked before subjecting it to the procedure described here.
Maxine
The soaking rice (step 1) never got plump or easy to break apart. What am I doing wrong.
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