Whether it be to accompany an incomplete dish or to scoop up that last bit of curry playing run-and-catch in your plate, bread is next to a godsend food. India is home to a great deal of breads –– move past your regular roti or pav, and you will see just what magic some flour in different forms can create.
In Nepal and parts of North-East India exists a type of bread that arose in us a child-like excitement. It is round like most breads, but it is round in the sense that it is shaped like a doughnut, quite unlike the rest of them. And so our food history brain bug nearly demanded us to do a deep-dive into this treat of a bread, called Sel Roti.
Although it is popular around the time of Tihar (Diwali), Sel Roti makes a place for itself in the lives of many around the year. Meant to be crunchy on the outside and fluffy in its interior, the deep-fried rice flour dough-ring is slightly sweet –– perfect for a snack by itself or even as an accompaniment to other dishes. It is also special by way of complimenting sweet foods as well as dishes such as Dum Aloo and pickles.
While there seems to be no one historical route to trace the origin of Sel Roti, the Kathmandu Post says that in their conversation with Nepal Sanskrit University’s Dinesh Raj Panta, it was mentioned that this food is over 800 years old. One of the reasons it became and stayed so popular is that it had a long shelf-life. If made on the festival of Lakshmi Puja, it would be available till Bhai Tika, too. Another possibility is mentioned by Bawarchi, where it is said that Sel Roti takes form from the Barbari, which is a flat pancake-like roti made of the same batter –– it came to be deep-fried in a ring to improve longevity.
One would also think that these tubes are piped into hot oil using an instrument or utensil of sort, however, traditionally, the batter is allowed to slip through a gap between the hands and fall. Guiding the batter in a circular motion, a ring is formed to give shape to the Sel Roti.
Earlier, the traditional Sel Roti was made of rice four and a couple of other staples, but now, many get adventurous with spices such as nutmeg and cardamom. The addition of banana, too, has become increasingly popular.
There’s not much to complain about a dish that is basically deep-fried flour –– and when it is an unusual shape, different from the roti one would imagine, we are all for it!
We may not be able to make them just how the natives of Nepal and surrounding regions do, but if it is anywhere near the crunchy yet soft goodness we see in pictures, we would pat ourselves on the back, for sure.
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