Here is a recipe for a traditional Indian cookie, called nankhatai. Nankhataiis a short-bread biscuit made from whole wheat. With ‘Nan’ meaning bread and ‘Khatai’ meaning biscuit, the sweet Indian snack is an authentic festival delight prepared across the country during Diwali. Loaded with butter and hints of cardamom wafting through every bite, these biscuits also make good tea-time snack!
These eggless Indian cookies can be made with whole wheat alone, however, besan and rice flour bring in texture that is the best thing about a cookie. With rice flour bringing in the crispiness and besan the layers, nankhatai can easily be rustled up in your home and still taste like you’ve got them from the best confectionary around!
Packing this for your kid’s lunch? Make sure you pack them in your kids snack boxes.
Health Benefits
Whole wheat flour is a rich source of vitamins B1, B3, and B5 in addition to containing folate and riboflavin. It also has more calcium, iron, and protein than white flour.
Ingredients
a pinch of salt
tsp cardamom powder: ¼
tbsp rawa: 2
tbsp yogurt: 2
cup ghee: 1/2
tbsp powdered sugar: 7
tsp baking soda: 1/4
tbsp rice flour: 1
tbsp gram flour: 2
cup whole wheat flour: 1
How To Make Whole Wheat Nankhatai Recipe
- Sift the gram flour, whole wheat flour, rice flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the rawa, mix well and place them aside.
- Take sugar in a vessel and add ghee over it. Cream them until they are smooth, fluffy, and soft. Combine the yogurt.
- Whisk well with a wired whisk. Allow the yogurt to completely blend into the mixture.
- Fold the dry ingredients prepared earlier into the wet ones using a spatula. Bring the dough together.
- Season with cardamom powder and keep aside for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth.
- Uncover the dough and make small marble sized balls. Flatten them gently with your palm and sprinkle pistachios. Place them in a greased pan.
- Place the pan in a preheated oven (200 degrees Celsius) for 10 minutes. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for some 16 minutes until the edges of the cookies are light brown. Make sure they are baked well but avoid over baking the cookies.
- Allow the cookies to cool and store in an airtight container.
Trivia
It is believed that nankhatai was invented by a Parsi gentleman called Faramji Pestonji Dotivala towards the end of the 16th century. It derived its taste from the traditional Surat sweet called ‘Dal’ as well as the Afghan and Irani cuisines.