With Independence Day of India (August 15th) just around the corner, I wanted to celebrate in my own way by making these traditional and first known Indian cookies albeit with the colors of the Indian flag – green, orange and white!
WHAT IS NANKHATAI?
You can say it is one of the first cookies made in India when ovens were not so common in all households. “Nan” comes from the word “Naan” or bread in Persian and"Khatai" is biscuit in Afghan! More history and information about this you can find here. This was the only and first cookies/biscuit I remember ever eaten which was sort of homemade! I remember, my grandmother used to make the dough of these mouthwatering, eggless cookies and take it to the nearest bakery to bake in their ovens for a small fee. It was called “Narayan Kataar” in my hometown of Mangalore in southern India and I still do not know why!
When ovens started popping in stores, people started baking at home. This oven was kind of a round table top oven with a glass top! Interesting isn’t it? My mom too had one like that and it was exciting to watch her make the only bake she always made; nankhatai! I remember baking my first cake; a pound cake in that small round oven too! This recipe is my mother’s tried and tested recipe and I decided to just follow it to a tee!
BASIC INGREDIENTS NEEDED:
Nankhatais are basically an easy to make quick shortbread (with its characteristic crack on top) using flour (mainly all purpose or maida), ghee or clarified butter, baking soda and sugar! Nowadays you see many making these using whole wheat flour, besan/chickpea flour and sometimes even with some semolina in them! But to keep the tradition alive, I decided not to change my mom’s recipe even a bit! We do add some powdered cardamoms, leaving some slightly coarse which sort of speckles or dots the baked cookie! Some people like to add a dash of saffron, but my mother never used it, so I decided to avoid that too!
All you need to do is mix the flour with powdered sugar, soda, ghee and cardamoms into a soft and smooth dough. This is then set aside to rest and ferment for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 5 to 6 hours! Then make small round balls and bake until you see the gorgeous cracks on top and the bottom is slightly golden brown! Let cool and enjoy melt-in-mouth, buttery and crunchy homemade nankhatais or narayan kataar with family and friends! Store leftovers in airtight containers. For a festive touch and to celebrate our Independence Day; I made a small batch in the colors of the Indian flag; orange, white and green using a dash of food color and bit of blue to represent the blue chakra/wheel!! Hope you like it!
Enjoy and Happy Independence Day 2019!
Here are some more Eggless Cookies you can enjoy anytime:
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies Karachi Biscuits Eggless Peanut Butter Cookies
Lets bake us some mouthwatering, melt-in-mouth and heavenly Nankhatais!
STEP-WISE INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE INDIAN NANKHATAI:
In a large bowl, stir flour with sugar and ghee; crumble with your fingers to make a bread crumb like mixture.
2 cups maida/all purpose flour ¾ cup ghee ¾ cup powdered sugar ½ teaspoon baking soda 8 to 10 green cardamoms, powdered Chopped almonds for topping (optional) OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS FOR INDIAN TRICOLOR NANKHATAIS: Red, green and yellow food colors
Instructions Notes For a dash of color and aroma, you can add a few strands of saffron into the dough. Make sure to ferment it for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 5 hours. Add the powdered cardamoms and then using gentle pressure, mix well for a few minutes until if forms a soft dough. The warmth of the hand will help the sugar to melt and form a smooth and soft dough.
Cover and set aside for about 2 hours. Just before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Centigrade. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make small balls of the dough, press gently and then place on prepared sheet. You could top each with some chopped almonds or pistachios. Just press some in the center. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until you see cracks in the cookie and bottom is light golden in color.
TO MAKE THE INDIAN TRICOLOR NANKHATAI:
Divide dough into 3 parts. To one part, add green food color (starting with a few drops). Mix well to distribute the color throughout until you get the shade of green you want. For the orange color, add few drops of red color and yellow food color to the second part of dough and mix well. Adjust the amount of red or yellow to get the right shade of orange. Leave the third part of dough plain. Now make small round balls (very small; like large beads) of each color; about 2 of orange, 2 of green and 2 of white. Place them next to each other. Now, gently press from the outer edge to bring all the balls together to the center; make sure it is evenly pressed from all sides. Keep pressing to join all the balls like this. Place on your palm and then using the other palm, with gentle hands, press over the top ever so lightly and at the same time, rotate like you would make balls/ladoos. Keep checking and continue until you get a beautiful design!
Place these on the baking sheet and bake for 13 to 15 minutes until fluffy and light golden on the bottom Remove from oven and let cool on pan for a couple of minutes.
Cool completely on wire racks. Enjoy melt-in-mouth Indian style shortbreads nankhatai as a snack/dessert; it is a perfect sweet treat to share with family and friends at any festival like Diwali, Holi etc. or even as an edible gift during Christmas or any other special occasion.
Happy Baking and Eating!!
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I am sharing this with Angie’s Fiesta Friday along with Antonia’s Zoale.com
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