Tihar is never complete with­out homemade ‘sel rotis’ and ‘phinis’ among other assort­ed desserts. It’s true that we today can easily procure them, ready­made, from one of the stores. Yet there can surely be no substitute for cooking them, fresh, in our own kitchen. APEX caught up with Chef Sandeep Khatri, also known as Pak Shastri, to get some tips. With 20-plus years of experi­ence in food experimentation, Khatri brings you contemporized versions of the traditional bread-based delicacies—exclusively for APEX.

First, a little info about the chef. Khatri learned culinary arts in Europe and he has travelled the world, learning, practicing and mastering his skills. Khatri is also an educator and founder of the Global Nepalese Chef Forum, which is working in collaboration with Global Chefs to make Nepali food popular around the world. His recent venture, Ka’ffi Global Catering, specializes in catering to the Nepali movie industry.

Sel Roti

(Authentic crispy rice donuts, coated with dark chocolate and coconut powder)

Sel roti is made in such a way that it will not go bad for months. Nor will it get fungus as it is deep-fried. It actually tastes better the next day, at least to some peo­ple. The sel roti is like an arti­san’s baguette or other Europe­an bread which they make and store to consume for days and months. That’s the reason they ferment the dough. Sel roti was historically the staple for travel­ers who walked up to Tibet for days to trade salt. Here we offer a lip-smacking version of it, sel 2.0 if you will.

Preparation Time: 3 hrs

Cooking time: 15 mins

Batch: 15 each

Ingredients

• Rice flour: 800 gm soaked for at least one hour

• Regular flour: 300 gm (Mixed well with rice flour in a batter, just as in pancake)

• Sugar: As per taste (Standard will be 10 tablespoons)

• Coconut powder: 1 cup

• Chocolate block: 1 cup (Micro­wave it to melt)

• Sesame seeds: Handful

• Water: 6 to 8 cups

• Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

• Spices like cinnamon powder, cardamom and vanilla are optional (for a tangy twist)

• Chocolate syrup

• Ice cream: The best would be vanilla but you can get a flavor of your choice

• Dry fruits: Crushed, to sprinkle on top

• Mint leaves for garnishing

Method

• Take a mixing bowl and add both rice and regular flours. Pour water gradually

• Add sugar and keep mixing, adding more water

• Dip the spoon and run your fingers on the back of it. The paste should be no more than 1 cm thick

• Then add the spices of your choice

• Again add sug­ar to ensure it is up to your taste

• S p r i n k l e some white s e s a m e seeds

• Let the mixture then ferment for three hours to get a nice texture

• Add baking powder (optional, and to be used only if you want to get fluffy sel rotis)

• In a deep pan, heat oil. It should be enough to submerge the dough

• Take a mineral water bottle and cut it in half. Use the neck part of the bottle to give your sel rotis a consistent, circular shape

• Put the dough in the half-cut bottle and pour it in the heated oil, in a circular shape

• Use a wooden stick or ladle to turn the sel roti

• Once it is golden brown, remove the roti from the pan

Time for the twist now

• Soak one side of the sel roti with melted chocolate on a serving plate

• Sprinkle some coconut powder and Gems chocolates on top

• Once the melted chocolate dries, top it up with vanilla ice-cream and pour some chocolate sauce

• Enjoy your contemporary sel roti

Phini Roti

(Nepali puff layered bread, with spinach and beet-root)

Preparation Time: 1 day

Cooking time: 30 mins

Batch: 15 each

Ingredients

Regular flour: 500 gm

Rice flour: 500 gm

Clarified butter (Ghee): 1 cup

Water: 3 to 5 cups

Beetroot: Bake or boil one medi­um-sized beetroot. Mash it up in a blender and let the water drain so that just the chunks remain

Spinach juice: Blanch a few spin­ach leaves and make puree in the blender

Method

• Add the spinach puree into regu­lar flour to make soft dough

• Add clarified butter/ghee with the rice flour and mix well to get your ‘satho’ ready

• Once the dough is ready, oil a flat, hard surface (maybe the marble in your kitchen or a sturdy chopping board) and roll the dough into a square, thin surface

• Add the mix of ‘satho’ on top

• Add some chunks of beet root

• Roll the dough from one side, just like you would roll a news­paper

• Once the roll is ready, cut the dough evenly into small sizes

• Roll the small cut-outs into square or round shapes. Don’t flip the phini while rolling, unlike you would do to normal roti

• Once rolled into the shapes you want, make at least 2/3 small cuts in the center of your phini so that they don’t get too puffed up while frying

• Fry the phini in a deep pan, just like you would the sel roti

• But do not flip the phini while frying. Use a ladle to pour hot oil on top of the phini while frying

The spinach and beet-root will give exotic colors to your regular phinis. Feel free to exper­iment with the sizes, shapes and presentation.