Make Easy Nankhatai At Home

New Delhi: Nankhatai is a popular and traditional Indian shortbread cookie that is made with all-purpose flour, sugar, and ghee (clarified butter) or butter and spiced with green cardamom.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour – 125 grams
• ⅓ cup gram flour (besan) – 40 grams
• ½ teaspoon baking soda – can add ¼ teaspoon or skip baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sooji (fine Rava or cream of wheat) – 20 grams
• 2 to 3 pinches nutmeg powder or grated nutmeg or ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder
• ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
• ⅓ to ½ cup Ghee (semi-solid) or butter at room temperature, 70 grams
• ½ cup sugar 100 to 110 grams sugar or ¾ cup powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar or add as per taste
• ½ tablespoon Curd (yogurt)
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk – at room temperature or cold
• 10 almonds or pistachios or chironji (charoli), or any preferred nuts, optional

Preparation

1. Powder the sugar finely in a grinder or spice grinder.
2. Then cream the ghee and powdered sugar with an electric mixer or blender. You can also cream in a food processor.
3. The mixture should become smooth, light, and creamy.
4. Sift the following dry ingredients – all-purpose flour, besan (gram flour), baking powder, and baking soda. Keep the sifted dry ingredients aside.
5. Add curd (yogurt) to the creamed ghee and sugar mixture. Mix very well.
6. Now add the sifted dry ingredients. Also add the sooji (Rava or cream of wheat), cardamom powder, and nutmeg powder.
7. Gently mix everything. Do not knead.
8. Just mix and gather to a smooth dough. If the mixture is too crumbly and you cannot bring it together into a dough, then add 1 to 3 tablespoons of milk at a time. Mix lightly and bring the mixture to a dough.

Shaping Nankhatai

1. Pinch medium-sized balls from the dough.
2. Roll them evenly in your palms. Slightly flatten them. Press chironji or almonds on the top lightly.
3. You can also make some crisscross designs on the nankhatai with a fork or toothpick.
4. Baking Nankhatai Biscuit
5. Place the nankhatai in a baking tray.
6. Keep some space between them as they expand while baking.
7. Bake the nankhatai in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 mins till light golden.
8. Remove and place them on wire racks, so that they cool at room temperature.
9. When cooled, store the nankhatai in an airtight container.