Festival Snack · Fried Pastry
Khapse
📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use
Some khapse shapes are reserved strictly for festivals — big, ornate ear- or bow-shaped pieces are stacked into towers as offerings and are rarely made any other time of year.
Khapse is a deep-fried biscuit made from a stiff dough of flour, butter, egg, and sugar, twisted, braided, or cut into shapes before being fried in hot oil until golden and crisp. Vendors sell bagfuls near markets and monasteries, especially around the Losar new year celebrations.
Why it's made this way: Khapse shapes are said to carry symbolic meaning tied to luck and prosperity for the coming year, so households and street sellers alike fry large batches in the weeks before Losar, making it as much a ritual food as a snack.
Roughly what's in it
310kcal
4gprotein
40gcarbs
15gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from Bhutan
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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