Sel roti is a traditional Nepalese ring-shaped sweet fried dough made from rice flour. It is mostly prepared during Dashain and Tihar, widely celebrated Hindu festivals in Nepal as well as Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim regions in India. The dish is popular throughout Nepal and among the Indian Gorkha community. Sel roti is made from a batter of rice flour, water sugar, ghee, and spices which is then deep-fried in cooking oil.
Dinesh Raj Panta, a professor at Nepal Sanskrit University estimates this dish to be over 800 years old. According to Madhulika Dash, an Indian food columnist, the dish was made bland many years ago, without sugar and spices. Over the years with intermingling of various ethnicities of Nepal, the dish has reached in its modern form. Dash also estimates that sel roti may have been a modified form of Babari, a Nepalese rice pancake.
The name of the dish is assumed to be derived from Sel, a variety of rice that grows in the foothills of Nepal. Roti in Nepali translates to bread. Another theory also suggests that the name of the dish is from Saal, Nepali word for year. Since the dish was developed to be a ceremonial dish made on Nepalese new year, it may have been called Saal roti, which later had become Sel roti.
Sel Roti is a traditional food in Nepali-speaking communities in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Siliguri and Kalimpong regions of India and southern Bhutan. It is an essential food at most Nepalese and Kumaoni cultural and traditional events. Instead of traditional single ring shape, in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong areas, Sel roti is also made in double ring shape.
It is customary for a groom to present the family of the bride with a basket of freshly made Sel Roti as a token before marrying their daughter. It is the gift that the bride carries back to her home from her parental place in a thumsey (bamboo basket) as good wishes post her annual vacation. Birthdays, weddings or special occasions are complete without serving Sel Roti.
Old tales say that the concept of Sel Roti came from the Babari, an original “roti” that was more of a pancake. Babari, unlike Sel Roti, was a thick pancake that was made of the same batter. It was dry, bland and was the perfect substitute for rice, especially when you are traveling. The only issue with the otherwise filling bread was that it dried soon, and wouldn’t survive even half of the travel. That is when, many say, that Sel Roti, a fried option was innovated.
Over the time, Sel Roti, which had proven its worth as a travel food, started having variations. The first was with coconut, the next with cinnamon and then sugar. Today, a basic batter is prepared with cinnamon powder, salt and sugar, making it a crunchy, sweet treat.