Nankhatai Recipe with Video | How to Make Easy Nankhatai in Cooker

These melt in mouth nankhatai biscuits believed to be originated in Surat(gujrat). When dutch came to India in 16th century they set up bakeries which they handed over to local Parsis while leaving India. Later on Parsis gave the Indian flavours to the cookies and gave birth to nankhatai recipe.

Nankhatai biscuit are full of Indian flavours and it is quite different from shortbread cookies. Basically it is prepared with flour, sugar and ghee (or any other fat). Use of cardamom, nutmeg and rose petal gives them a traditional Indian spicy flavour. These biscuits have powdery and crumbly texture rather than crunchy.

These biscuits are very easy to prepare at home. Just mix all ingredients, give shape and bake. Baking is usually done in oven however oven is not very commonly present in Indian kitchens. So this time I have used pressure cooker to bake these biscuits. I have also used an Idli stand to place nankhatai for baking inside the cooker.

For baking in pressure cooker keep these points in mind.

1. Keep in mind that pressure cooker are meant for cooking and not for baking in high heat. So do not use the cooker too much for baking i.e. use it rarely like once or twice a month for baking, else there is a chance that your pressure cooker may get damaged.

2. While making these nankhatai I haven't used gasket (rubber band) and whistle. The outcome is perfectly baked biscuit so I suggest that you should bake without gasket and whistle.

3. I layer 1 - 1 1/2 inch of salt to regulate pressure evenly in cooker. After baking you could re-use the same salt again for your next pressure cooker baking.

4. Never add water while baking in pressure cooker.

5. Always preheat the cooker before baking cakes.

6. Though I have baked these nankhatai in 2 litre cooker. If possible always prefer to bake in a 4-5 ltr of pressure cooker and not the size below them.

7. Baking timings may vary according to size of cooker. Large cooker would take longer to bake than the smaller ones.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoon ghee
1 1/2 tablespoon powder sugar or tagar
1/2 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
1 1/4 tablespoon chickpea flour (Besan)
1/2 tablespoon fine Semolina(suji)
1 small pinch salt
2 generous pinch freshly grounded cardamom powder
Crushed pistachios to garnish

Step by step nankhatai recipe

Step 1 . Preheat the pressure cooker. Layer salt in cooker and place on low heat. Cover the lid without gasket and whistle. Let it heat for 6-7 minutes. Meanwhile start the other preparation.

In a large mixing bowl add ghee and powdered sugar. Mix with a spoon to incorporate sugar into ghee.

Step 2 . Then add chickpea flour, all purpose flour, semolina, crushed cardamom and salt. Mix with hands to form dough. There is no need to add any liquid. If dough is too crumbly to form dough, add 1/2 teaspoon of ghee more and try again.

Step 4. Once dough is formed, divide the dough into 7-8 equal parts. Take each part and roll them to form ball and then flatten it a bit.

Step 5. Garnish the biscuit with crushed pistachios. Arrange them in an idli maker.

Step 6. Place the idli maker in centre of cooker and pressure cook the nankhatai on medium heat for 6- 8 minutes.

Note - Since I am using idli stand to bake nankhatai I haven't used separator (perforated aluminium plate). If you use a plate to bake them do use separator to avoid burnt.

Take nankhatai out and let them rest for 5 minutes then with the help of spoon take them out. Store in a airtight container.