This is a very special desi baking recipe.
Nan Khatai are essentially cookies that are available on every roadside cookie store or the exclusive bakery etc store. They can be baked without an oven ,between plates over a chulah or in a jugaadu contraption, that works like an oven.
We are ok here and we used the Morphy Richards 40 liter oven to pull out about 100 nan khatai in half an hour.Mum.
My mom made the yummiest nan khatai that were perfectly hemispheric in shape, lightly browned from the bottom and crisp with a hint of cardamom.
I had the strangest of dreams, of coming back from school and sneaking into the kitchen to pull down the hemispheric container from her macrame shelf ,digging into the crisp nan khatai ,hers always had holes in them though...
When I woke up today, I strangely missed her and all she represents. Early morning I tried to replicate the memories and the nan khatai, they were not like hers, so she gave me her recipe. ..which I will try next.
These are from here...and I made minor changes to the recipe.
Took some to school today ,and the colleagues were happy to say that they were better than store made.
The people who work in my house were happy...any day better than the packaged biscuits.
You are right. I prefer to share the calories.
For the
Nan Khatai ,the desi Indian Cookie...
You need
1 cup desi ghee or clarified/brown butter (remove 2 tsp and substitute with refined veg oil for crisper cookies)
1 cup sugar
7-8 cardamom
1 cup APF or all purpose flour or Maida plus a little extra
1/2 cup gram flour or besan
1/3 cup semolina
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
A few slivers of almonds
Process the sugar and the cardamom.
Sift the flours and the baking powder and salt.
Cream the ghee and oil and a teaspoon of cold water with the sugar.
Pop in the flour mix and knead to a soft dough.
Bring out the trays and turn the oven on to 200 C.Roll and shape small balls and flatten in the palm of your hand and lay on the cookie sheet.
Stick the almond slivers onto the cookie.
I did double the dough...Why??? God knows...
You need to let the cookies rest for 10 to 15 minutes now.Before you place them in the oven, bring down the temp to 180C.
Pop the trays in and keep an eye on them.
Turn them around once after 6 or 7 minutes and turn on the heat from too and bottom for a pretty brown color.
The bottom should be jut about done and the top just coloured when you bring the trays out.
Let them stay for 2 minutes and then slide them off with a metal spatula onto a wire rack.
Cool and enjoy.We enjoyed them with chai...
Its raining here today, after a thunderstorm.
In the middle of the summer, the wind is blowing gale force and pulling down the trees in Jalandhar Cantt...
And my wifi is down...
Bah...
But these desi cookies make it all worth the while.
PS if you dont have desi ghee, make it.
In a sauce pan, heat butter till it cooks out and leaves solid brown muck at the bottom. Monitor.Strain into a steel jar and use for all stuff Indian.
Use unsalted butter or else the ghee will be salted.
But any which ways, its totally Yum.
Try it. There is something so earthy about them.
Just like the smell of rain on dry parched earth.
So what are you baking today???
