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

Homemade Nankhatai

Indian-style shortbread cookies made with ghee and flavoured with cardamom
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
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