- Playing
- Frying Cel Roti in Pokhara, Nepal
- From
- Laura Spero
You can find it on street carts, at religious ceremonies, in the kitchens of friends who are getting together...and everywhere in between. In Nepal, "cel roti," a circular fried bread, is a traditional favorite. But you'd never make just one. This treat is always cooked when there are a lot of people around, and the cooking itself can become a social event as rings of bread take over all the dishware. Amateurs, beware!
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Piece Description
You can find it on street carts, at religious ceremonies, in the kitchens of friends who are getting together...and everywhere in between. In Nepal, "cel roti," a circular fried bread, is a traditional favorite. But you'd never make just one. This treat is always cooked when there are a lot of people around, and the cooking itself can become a social event as rings of bread take over all the dishware. Amateurs, beware!
Broadcast History
The World Vision Report, August 2009
Transcript
[ambi in kitchen, Basanta laughing]
TRACK 1 - We’re crowded onto the floor of Sarasoti Subedi’s kitchen with her family—I’d introduce you to everyone but you’ll forget all their names. Over there, though, is Sarasoti’s thirteen year old son Basanta—
[Basanta and ambi]
who I nicknamed “Roti” when I first met him years ago while doing exactly this activity. We make cel roti every time we’re together, and that’s how it’s often made: with lots of friends around.
[kitchen Ambi]
TRACK 2 - Sarasoti’s daughter in law Sita is mixing up a huge pot of batter right now:
Bj: This is rice flour.…Sugar, hot water. Stir it. [loud stirring]…Soda (Baking Soda) –
--rice flour, sugar, warm water, and then a modern addition, some baking powder from a nearby shop. Sita’s also added powder from the ground bark of a caulo tree.
[stirring]
TRACK 3 - While Sita’s mixing the batter with her hands,...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:In the southasian country of Nepal, there’s a food you’d find on street carts, at religious ceremonies, and everywhere in between. But if you’re looking for some kind of exotic, complex food involving wild animals or bizarre cooking methods, this isn’t going to be it. Cel roti [sell roh-tee] is a fried bread that basically looks like a donut. That’s right, a donut. Reporter Laura Spero got her hands into rice batter in the kitchen of some Nepali friends, in Pokhara [PO-car-uh].
OUTRO:
