Nankhatai
Nankhatai are eggless Indian shortbread cookies made with few simple ingredients like ghee, flour, cardamom and sugar.
Equipment
- Oven / Microwave
- Mixing bowl
- sieve
- baking tray
- Parchment paper / Silicon mat
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-purpose flour / Maida
- ½ cup Gram flour / Besan
- 2.5 tablespoon Semolina / Sooji / Rava
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar if you have very fine granular sugar as in USA you need not grind it. use it directly.
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- ½ cup Ghee / Clarified butter room temperature not melted.
- 2 tablespoon Nuts coarsely chopped.
Instructions
- Ingredients.
- In a bowl, sift the maida/all-purpose flour, besan, sooji, powdered sugar, salt and cardamom powder.
- In the sifted flour add the ghee (room temperature) (optional add saffron for color fragrance and flavor)
- Now mix all the ingredients to form a dough. Do not use water or milk to bind the dough. You can add a tablespoon or so of more ghee. The dough should be non-sticky and more like a shortbread cookie one. The test to see if the dough is right consistency is to form a small ball and press it down at the center with thumb. If the dough cracks at the top or at the bottom instead of smooth pedha then the dough is dry and needs Ghee. But be careful adding the ghee. I would recommend to add 1 teaspoon at a time and mix and check for the texture of pedhas. The texture of dough balls defines if you will have more cracked cookies or lightly cracked ones.
- Take a baking pan and line it with parchment paper or silicone mat. However you need not worry since the dough is not sticky and the only binding agent is ghee the cookies will not stick to the pan if you directly place them on pan.
- Preheat the oven at 160 C/ 320 F and for a microwave convection oven at 150 C/ 305 F
- Divide the dough into 15 to 18 equal size balls and shape it into round pedha shapes.
- Place them on the the baking tray 1 inch apart so that they do not stick together while baking
- Add some nuts on top (this is optional)
- Bake the Nankhatais in preheated oven for 20-25 mins and for convection microwave bake them for 18 - 23 mins. Check the cookies at about 18 mins to see if they are soft. Continue cooking till you see some cracks on top and very light browning at the bottom. (remember every oven has different heating and setting and it may take longer or shorter time)Also If you are using an OTG turn on both the rods for heating.I bake in regular gas oven and mine always take 23 mins.
- Take the tray out once they are done and let it cool down. The cookies with be delicate and brittle at this time so be careful. They will turn crisp after cooling down. If you over bake it in an attempt to get brown bottom they will turn hard after cooling. Remember the pan is still hot when you get the cookies out at that will help in the browning at the bottom too. Also as the cookies cool down they develop some light cracks on top.
- Transfer the cookies to wire rack and let them rest before storing them in the container. They stay good for 2 to 3 weeks.
Notes
- Do not change the ratios of ingredients as they are required for the perfect taste and texture.
- Preheat the oven at least 10 minutes before the baking time as it helps in even baking and the temperature is balanced.
- Do not use melted ghee as that would make the cookies flat and spread instead of rising up.
- Don't skip the Sooji as it gives a crunch and texture to Nankhatai
- Do not use milk or water to bind the dough. As when you add any of these liquids the gluten in the flour reacts and you will get a sticky dough. Secondly, once you put one tablespoon of water or milk the texture of the dough will change and you will be tempted to add more of it. This will result in chewy cookies instead of crisp ones. The Nankhatai needs to be crisp and melt in the mouth and not chewy.
- Add more ghee one teaspoon at a time if you need to bind the dough if required.
- Adding besan gives it that earthy Indian taste to the cookies.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!