Naankhatais

Even when we didn’t know anything about baking, we knew naankhatais. The quintessential Indian cookies made with ghee, all purpose flour, semolina, and gram flour. They are soft and fluffy and light as a feather. Easy to make, these cookies can be made in a jiffy and they taste heavenly.

Ingredients
  • All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 80 gms (2/3 cup)
  • Besan – 20 gms (1/8 cup)
  • Sugar – 60 gms (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp)
  • Ghee – 50 gms (1/4 cup)
  • Suji – 2 tbsp
  • Curd – 1 tbsp
  • Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp
  • Almonds/Pistachios – ¼ cup (Thinly Sliced
Method
  1. Pre-heat the oven at 200°C.
  2. Sieve together maida, besan, suji, and cardamom powder and keep the mixture aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, cream ghee with hands or with an electric whisk until light. Gradually add sugar to the ghee and keep creaming until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
  4. Add the sieved flour mixture to the ghee-sugar mixture.
  5. Collect everything to prepare a soft dough using your fingertips (do not knead).
  6. Make small balls from the dough and press lightly on the top with a thumb.
  7. Make a cross with knife and put sliced almonds or pistachios.
  8. Arrange the naankhatais on a baking tray and bake in the pre-heated oven at 200°C for 10-12 minutes. Remember to check the cookies after 10 minutes.
  9. Let the cookies cool on the wire rack for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
  1. Your cookies are cooked if you see them browning from the sides.
  2. When you will take out the cookies from the oven, they will be soft and cushy. Do not cook them more.
  3. Follow these steps after the cookies are cooked:
    1. Take out the baking tray and keep it on the cooling rack. Let the cookies be on the baking tray till the tray is hot.
    2. Once the tray is at room temperature, remove the cookies from the tray and keep them on a separate plate and allow them to cool for another 30-45 minutes.
  4. If your oven tends to get too hot, reduce the time of baking by 1-2 minutes accordingly.
  5. Remember to keep the cookies batter and cookies sheet/baking tray in cold temperature. The cookies dough or batter or balls should always be chilled before getting into the oven.
  6. DO NOT leave the cookies dough or cookies balls at room temperature. If the oven is not ready, shift the cookies dough or balls into the fridge and take them out only when the oven is ready.