Homemade Nankhatai

Crisp on the outside, softer on the inside and very very simply flavoured, nankhatais are supremely underrated. They are called the Indian version of shortbread and though not everyone agrees with that comparison, I do see why it would have come up. They’re made with ghee which is clarified butter but the idea is the same: a really basic, classic cookie that you just.can’t.stop.eating.

Just in time for Diwali, these little guys take hardly any time to make and are addictive enough to push my favourite laddoos off the table!

I had made nankhatai many Diwalis ago and posted them on the blog. But I realised they weren’t actually the ones I remember eating in my childhood. Somehow, I haven’t eaten too many nankhatai in recent years. But I did know the kind I wanted to make: almost powdery on the outside thanks to the ghee and yet, super crispy. Not dark, but barely browned so the inside remains a beautifully contrasting soft. And that mysterious flavour that it turns out, comes from the lovely combination of vanilla and cardamom.

I hunted around a lot but most recipes seemed more cookie, less authentic nankhatai. Then I came across a recipe on the Indian Express by Bijal Vachharajani which seemed like just the one. Her version looked like the one I was craving and it was so simple. I got to work immediately. One whiff of the dough and I knew this was jackpot. The only thing I did differently was bake the nankhatai for longer because clearly I made them larger than the recipe intended (I made 10 nankhatai that are about 2 inches wide and they seemed the perfect size but the recipe says 30 to 35 which means they’re maybe meant to be reeeeeeeally tiny?). I also found I needed a bit more ghee while shaping them, but making them is a peace of cake, er, cookie.

Nankhatai dough comes together in minutes but it took me a little time to work them into neat little circles. The dough is meant to be on the crumblier side so it takes the warmth of your hands to ease it into submission. Pressing a piece of any kind of nut on top is optional, it’s actually just decorative. All the flavour comes from the ghee, vanilla and cardamom. It’s that authentic flavour from old school bakeries!

Light, fragrant and sooo good with a cup of chai. Nankhatai can be made a few days before the festivities and stored in an airtight tin so they’re actually so great for guests and holiday parties! Provided you don’t eat them by yourself that is. Get baking! And have a lovely, safe and very happy Diwali 🙂

Homemade Nankhatai

Indian-style shortbread cookies made with ghee and flavoured with cardamom

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Makes: 10 nankhatai

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Ingredients

  

• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, from 4 to 5 pods
• 1/2 cup caster sugar (95 gms)
• 1/2 cup ghee, at room temperature (125 ml)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180 gms)
• Optional: sliced pistachios, almonds or cashews for topping

Instructions

• In a mixing bowl, combine the cardamom and sugar. Rub the cardamom into the sugar till properly dispersed and the mixture smells super fragrant.
• Now add the ghee and stir vigorously till the mixture is pale and creamy-looking (I like using a silicone spatula here). Stir in the vanilla.
• Now add the flour and fold it in with a spatula. Use your hands to bring the mixture together into a crumbly dough. If it feels too dry, add a tablespoon more of ghee.
• Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a baking tray with a silicone mat or non stick baking paper.
• Form equal-sized rounds of the dough, roughly two tablespoons of dough each. Use your fingers and palms to shape them into circles that are about one and a half inches wide and gently flatten the tops. Press a piece of pistachio in the center of each and if some cracks form on the surface, smoothen them out with your fingers and mould the edges of the nankhatai firmly.
• Place each one on the baking tray at least an inch apart. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until very lightly browned (darker brown is fine too if you prefer it that way). They will also rise and spread a little bit. The nankhatai will have a few cracks on top which you can just smooth over with a small spoon.
• Let them cool on the baking tray itself and firm up further. The outside will be crisp and the inside will be softer. Store in an airtight tin for about a week. Happy baking and happy Diwali!

Notes

*As written in the post above, the original recipe says this would make 35 nankhatai. I got 10 out of this dough and they were very reasonably sized. If you'd like to make them mini to get more out of the dough, go ahead, reducing the baking time accordingly.

*Original recipe from the Indian Express by Bijal Vachharajani 

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