Sel roti in Croatia: can you make the Tihar ring bread with supermarket rice flour?

A step-by-step sel roti with rice flour, sugar, banana and milk from Croatian shops, in time for Tihar.

Published 2026-10-25 · Source checked 2026-10-24

No Tihar without sel roti. The good news: you can make a decent batch in Croatia with things from a normal supermarket. It takes about 40 minutes and a little patience.

Shopping list with Croatian names: rice flour (rižino brašno; look in the gluten-free shelf at DM, Konzum or Lidl, or in Asian shops), sugar (šećer), ripe banana (banana), milk (mlijeko), butter or ghee (maslac), cardamom (kardamom), and plenty of cooking oil (ulje) for frying. Normal wheat flour will not give the same texture, so keep to rice flour. Prices vary by shop, so check before you go.

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Step 1: Mix 2 cups of rice flour, a third of a cup of sugar, one mashed ripe banana, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and a pinch of cardamom. Step 2: Add milk slowly, about 1 cup, and whisk to a thick but pourable batter, like pancake batter but smoother. Step 3: Rest it for 20–30 minutes.

Step 4: Heat about 3 cm of oil in a wide pot. Pour the batter in a ring shape, using a squeezed bottle, a cloth with a hole or a spoon in a circular motion. Step 5: Fry on medium heat 1–2 minutes each side until golden, turn gently, and drain on kitchen paper (papirnati ubrus). Do not let the oil smoke.

Tips: if the batter spreads too much, add a spoon of flour; if it is too thick to pour, add a spoon of milk. Keep the first one as a test. Be careful with hot oil in a shared kitchen.

What to do: make a batch on Saturday 7 November or Sunday 8 November and share it with housemates and colleagues. Tell us in the comments on our Facebook page: what is your family's secret for perfect sel roti, and what do you use instead in Croatia?

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