Sel Roti

Ingredients

• 500g short-grain white rice
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp ghee, melted
• 1 small ripe banana
• 1 tsp ground green cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200ml full-fat milk, approximately
• 1 litre sunflower or mustard oil, for deep-frying

Before you cook

• Rinse the rice well, cover it with cold water and soak for 6 hours or overnight.
• Melt the ghee and let it cool slightly.
• Peel the banana.

Steps

1. Drain the soaked rice thoroughly and leave it in the sieve for 15 minutes to dry off.
2. Grind the drained rice in a powerful blender with the banana, sugar, cardamom, cloves and salt, adding the milk a little at a time, until you have a completely smooth batter with no grit left.
3. Beat in the melted ghee, then beat the batter hard for 3 minutes with a whisk or your hand to lighten it.
4. Check the consistency by lifting the whisk. The batter should fall in a thick unbroken ribbon, thicker than pancake batter but still pourable. Adjust with a splash of milk or a spoon of rice flour.
5. Cover the bowl and rest the batter at room temperature for 1 hour, or up to 4 hours for a lighter, less oily result.
6. Pour the oil into a wide deep pan to a depth of about 5cm and heat it to 170C.
7. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or a squeeze bottle, or use a jug if you have a steady hand.
8. Pipe the batter into the hot oil in one continuous circle about 12cm across, starting and finishing at the same point so the ring closes.
9. Fry for about 1 minute until the underside is golden and the ring has firmed up enough to move.
10. Turn the ring over with two skewers or long chopsticks and fry the second side for another minute, until both sides are an even reddish gold.
11. Lift the sel roti out and stand it on a rack to drain so it stays crisp.
12. Pipe and fry the remaining batter one or two rings at a time, keeping the oil steady at 170C.
13. Serve the sel roti warm with yoghurt or a potato pickle, or cool them completely and store in an airtight tin.