Dhakney Roto (ढाक्ने रोटो)
Pancake from far west Nepal
Dhakney Roto (ढाक्ने रोटो) is a thick pancake cooked to celebrate Poush 15 known as Bhuwa Parba (भुवा पर्ब) in far west Nepal. Bhuwa Parba is the new moon day of the Nepali month Poush, celebrated to mark the epic victory of the Pandavas over Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra. Traditionally on Poush 15, people cook Dhankney Roto, youngsters do a night bonfire, and adults play Deuda (a far western traditional dance).
In Achhami Dhakney refers to “the covering”. The pancake is uniquely covered with banana leaves while cooking, so it is named the Dhakney. It is a pancake made of a thick batter of rice flour. The flour is prepared by soaking the rice grains in water for 6–8 hours and then grinding it. Dhakney can be made solely of rice flour. However, some people even mix the black gram paste with the rice flour batter. Simply a batter of rice flour and the spices like salt, chili, and ghee are enough to make a simple Dhakney. However, adding black gram paste to rice flour with spices and ghee makes the Dhankey more special. It is called the Massey Dhankey (black gram’s Dhankney). It’s softer and more appetizing.
Soak the rice in water for 6–8 hours. Then grind the soaked rice to make fine flour. Knead the rice flour and add water as per the need to prepare a thick batter. Grind the water-soaked black gram and make a fine paste. Grind the spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, chili, and ginger). Add 2 to 3 full spoons of ghee to the batter. Mix the batter thoroughly after adding black gram and spices paste. Spread out the banana leaves in a heated pan. Take some portion of the batter and spread it out evenly on banana leaves placed on the pan. Make sure you spread it out thick. Cover with banana leaves. Take some charcoal and lay it on top of the banana leaves. Add some more hot charcoal and ashes. Then remove the burning firewood from the stove, and keep only the burning charcoal on the stove. It takes 1 to 2 hours, depending on the intensity of the charcoal.
Gently remove the covering banana leaves along with ash and charcoal and bring off the pancake from the pan. Remove the banana leaves stuck on the lower side of the pancake and dust out all the ash stuck on it. Then it is ready to serve.
It can be munched alone or served with pickles, lassi, or curry.
