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!

Photo courtesy: @palighar

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:

1. Soak the rice for a minimum of 3 hours. Drain and pound it into fine powder.
2. Sieve the powdered rice.
3. Mix the rice powder with maida (flour), sugar, butter, and masala thoroughly and then add milk to make a semi-thick batter.
4. 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).
5. Let it cook on one side and then turn it over with the help of a bamboo stick.
6. As it puffs and rises, push it into the oil with the back of a spoon until it is light golden brown.
7. Remove the sel roti with a thong and drain the excess oil on paper napkins.
8. 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!

Photo courtesy: @palighar

Photo courtesy: @palighar

Photo courtesy: @palighar

Photo courtesy: @palighar

Photo courtesy: @palighar

Any Nepali festival, function or an occasion will always have sel roti on the menu. It's pounded rice flour, seived and then later mixed with some spices, sugar, butter and milk. It's then deep fried after putting the batter into the pan which is an art and skill in itself. Have compiled a few videos and pictures of making sel roti at home today. It pretty much shows the entire process of making these delicious treats. Can't get more fresh and tastier. . . . #selroti #nepali #bread #treat #cuisine #cntraveller #festival #dasain #celebration #palighar #paligharexperiences #custom #traditional #himalayangeographic #kalimpong #foodporn #india

A post shared by Farmstay & Experiential Travel (@palighar) on Sep 28, 2017 at 3:10am PDT

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Imtee Jamir

Content Manager, Roots & Leisure | Architecture Graduate, and lover of Books and Movies.

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