Sel Roti

Name: Sel Roti
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Sikkimese
Ingredients: 2 cups rice (sela or local white rice), soaked overnight; ½ cup sugar; 1 ripe banana, mashed; 2 tbsp ghee, plus more for the batter; ¼ tsp green cardamom powder; ½ cup milk or water, as needed; 3 cups oil or ghee, for deep frying

Crisp-edged, soft-centred rings of sweet ground rice batter fried in ghee — made in every Sikkimese home for Dashain, Tihar and Losar.

Ingredients

2 cups rice (sela or local white rice), soaked overnight
½ cup sugar
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tbsp ghee, plus more for the batter
¼ tsp green cardamom powder
½ cup milk or water, as needed
3 cups oil or ghee, for deep frying

Method

Soak the rice in water overnight, or at least 6 hours, then drain well.
Grind the rice with the sugar, banana and a little milk into a slightly coarse, thick batter.
Beat in 2 tbsp ghee and the cardamom, and whisk by hand for 5 minutes until the batter is airy and pours like thick cream.
Rest the batter for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil or ghee in a deep kadai over medium heat until a drop of batter rises steadily.
Pour the batter in a thin stream from your fist or a cone, drawing a ring about 4 inches across in the oil.
Fry 1 minute until the underside is golden, flip with a stick or skewer and fry 1 minute more.
Lift out, drain upright and serve warm with aloo dum or tea.

Tip: If the ring breaks, the batter is too thin; if it won't flow, add a spoon of milk. Traditionally a bamboo stick (sinka) is used to flip and lift.