Street Food · Festival Ring Bread

Sel Roti

Photo: Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

This crispy rice-flour ring has been fried at Nepali festivals for an estimated 800 years — making it far older than the modern doughnut it resembles.

A batter of soaked rice, sugar and ghee, spiced with cardamom, is poured freehand into hot oil where it puffs into a golden ring — crisp outside, soft and chewy within. Once made only for festivals, it's now sold year-round from roadside tea stalls.

Why it's made this way: Its ring shape and long shelf life made it ideal for festival offerings and travel food, and the household recipe has passed down for generations.