In my quest for the perfect Nankhatai...Indian Cookie

Nankhatai

Nankhatai is one of the most popular Indian cookie, it is very light, crunchy and sweet of course, as a kid it used to be one of my favourite cookies, another was the coconut cookie, and a cookie similar to the Nankhatai was the very famous Shrewsbury biscuit which we would get when ever any one came from Pune ( which is where they were available at a bakery called Kayani's  ).

So where and why did my quest begin ? Well it all started when I came upon a recipe for Nankhatai....and I was like oh! wow, now I can make my own and that was the start of all my travails ....am wondering whether I should trouble all of you with all my troubles...but what the ????....why not...so here goes...

So continuing with my story.....I came upon this while browsing some other recipes on the net ( this is one of my favourite pasttimes....I know...I know...it seems like I have lots of time on my hands..not quite so...but nyways )....and  decided to try it out.

This recipe had all-purpose flour and desi ghee in it...and of course sugar...sounded yumm...so got out my ingredients, bowls...fired up the oven ...tried to follow the recipe as mentioned, but the end  product looked no where liked the picture in the recipe...tasted good, but was a bit crumbly...

Some more research ...( basically googling )....and got another recipe with butter this time...so tried that ...very different flavour and texture...but felt something was still missing...it was more salty ( mainly cause I used salted butter instead of using the unsalted one and adding salt as per the recipe called for ) and it was a bit dry...

Then lightbulb moment...decided to try with a slight modification ( a combination of first and second ) and voila...a much better version....I felt like shouting "Euraka" and dancing around ( though a more censored version than Archimedes's)....


So saying thanks to all the earlier version's authors...and also to all in my family who so patiently try out the results of  all my "experiments" :-) ....here's the final one ....

Ingredients:

1 cup All-purpose flour (maida )
100 gms salted butter
1 Tblspns ghee ( clarified butter )
6 Tblspns icing sugar
2 Tblspns castor sugar ( powdered sugar )
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp Baking powder

Method :

1) In a bowl mix room temperature butter and the sugars, beat till it is light and fluffy. Add the ghee and mix it in.
2) In another bowl mix all purpose flour, cardamom powder, and baking powder.
3) Mix the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture, a spoon at at time incorporating it in till it forms a soft dough.

4) Cover the dough and keep aside for about 1/2 hour or so.
5) Knead the dough and take small balls and form a small ball. Keep in a baking sheet about an inch apart and press down lightly.
6) If decorating the top with almonds - press down a half lightly on the the top.
7) Bake for 150 degrees C for about 25-30 minutes, keep an eye on it - the cookie has to be white on top and lightly browned at the bottom.

Enjoy !!!

My search and final choice was not just based on the two recipes mentioned above ....did a lot of reading up - there are nankhatai's with rava, besan and other's with different proportions ...and I guess some of those versions may also give you a great cookie...I had also made a cookie from all-recipes called melting moments which is also similar...liked that too...
And I am sure you would like to try this one out to make your own choice for the best...and hope my quest helps you...