Jhilinga (Nepalese Rice Fritters)

By RecipeLot

Nepalese food. ? Photo by Tnttamu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jhilinga is a traditional Nepalese food popular specially during festivals. Jhilinga is super crunchy, and is favoured by people of all age groups. It is closely associated mostly with people of different caste like the Newars, Gurungs, Magars and many other Nepalese ethnic tribes. Popularity of jhilinga still largely exists in villages and towns of Nepal. The making process of jhilinga is really simple and the ingredients are not complicated as well. However people need some good hands on skill to craft it in good circles as it can be tricky to make circles out of thin soft strips and set them to cook when required. The history of jhilinga is disputed and the dish is characterised by its frugality, reflecting agricultural hardship during ancient times. So it certainly was invented long time ago and would not surprise if someone said it was invented in one of many deep villages of Nepal. The consumption of jhilinga is largely during different occasions like weddings and birth ceremonies. It also is associated with different other rituals and has a significant cultural importance. From early days and until now it is used as Shagun (present) when visiting guests' or relatives' houses.

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