Sel Roti, a delicious traditional Nepali fried delight, mostly prepared as a festive snack during Dashain and Tihar in Nepal and Darjeeling. It is essentially a fried sweet bread prepared using pounded rice, flour, butter, milk and a mixture of fennel seed (saunf) and cardamom for flavoring. Simple yet delectable.
Today’s recipe is contributed by our lovely people at PaliGhar from Kalimpong. The making of this snack is a skill and an art in itself. Let’s get started on how it’s made!
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Rice: 1 kg
- Maida (flour): 100 gms
- Sugar: 100 gms
- Butter: 100 gms
- Milk: 1 cup
- Water: 1 cup
- Oil: 1 litre
- Sael roti masala: mixture of saunf (fennel seeds) and cardamom
Directions to cook:
- Soak the rice for a minimum of 3 hours. Drain and pound it into fine powder.
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Sieve the powdered rice.
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Mix the rice powder with maida (flour), sugar, butter, and masala thoroughly and then add milk to make a semi-thick batter.
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Use a deep frying pan to heat oil. Once the oil is heated, using bare hands or with the help of a squeezable paper or plastic cup or a pastry bag with a medium-size opening to pour the batter into the pan making round shapes (like a jalebi).
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Let it cook on one side and then turn it over with the help of a bamboo stick.
- As it puffs and rises, push it into the oil with the back of a spoon until it is light golden brown.
- Remove the sel roti with a thong and drain the excess oil on paper napkins.
- Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Your Sel Roti is now ready. Serve hot with tea or aloo dum and some aachar for a savory twist!
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