Naankhatai--Indian Shortbread Cookie

November 2017—Heritage Month

Naankhatai

I didn’t grow up baking. In fact, we didn’t even have an oven when we lived in India, and we didn’t used to bake much at home (if at all). So the Heritage Month challenge was difficult. I thought about making Indian breads, such as naan, but I wanted to make something sweet. So after searching for days, I finally stumbled on a recipe for my favorite Indian cookie—Naankhatai! Naankhatai is an Indian shortbread cookie that is flavored with cardamom and nutmeg. I was in love! So I decided to make them for my family when I was in California for Thanksgiving, and it was a hit. Lastly, a true Heritage Month recipe wouldn’t be complete without a throwback to my days with the metric system. So enjoy the ingredients in grams.

p.s. This is the first baking challenge that I completed on time. I actually baked these cookies in the month of November.

Ingredients (recipe courtesy of www.VegRecipesOfIndia.com)

• 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup (40 grams) gram flour (besan)

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 tablespoon (20 grams) sooji (fine rava or cream of wheat)

• 2 to 3 pinches nutmeg powder or grated nutmeg or ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder

• ½ teaspoon cardamom powder

• ½ cup (80 grams) ghee (semi solid), or butter at room temperature

• ½ cup (100–110 grams) sugar, or ⅔ cup powdered sugar or icing sugar

• ½ tablespoon yogurt

• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

• Few almonds

Directions

1. Grind the sugar finely.

2. Cream the ghee (or butter) and powdered sugar with an electric mixer or blender. The mixture should become smooth, light, and creamy.

3. Sift the following dry ingredients—all-purpose flour, gram flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Keep these dry ingredients aside.

4. Add yogurt to the creamed ghee (butter) and sugar mixture, and mix well.

5. Now add the sifted dry ingredients.

6. Add sooji (rava/cream of wheat), cardamom powder, and nutmeg powder.

7. Gently mix everything. Do not knead.

8. Mix and gather until you have smooth dough. If the mixture is too crumbly and you cannot bring together the dough, add 1 to 3 tablespoons of milk. Mix lightly and bring the mixture to a dough-like consistency.

9. Pinch medium-sized balls from the dough. Roll them evenly in your palms. Slightly flatten them. Press almonds on the top lightly.

10. Preheat oven to 356 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

11. Place the nankhatais in a baking tray. Keep some space between them as they will expand while baking.

12. Bake the naankhatai for 20–25 minutes till light golden.

13. Remove and place naankhatais on wire racks to allow them to cool down.