Nankhatai(Biscuits)

My mom used to prepare these soft,buttery Nankhatai biscuits when i was a kid. She used to prepare them in a flat heavy pan filled with sand and used to bake them on a gas stove or on a charcoal stove. Now also these biscuits  in some places are prepared on hot charcoal stoves and sold on road side markets. You can not go wrong with this recipe. It is prepared with all purpose flour, powdered sugar and Ghee/ butter. Because of their addictive taste I don’t prepare them very often. As i was feeling  happy reaching the milestone  of posting  100 recipes in my blog, I thought of preparing these yummy melt in the mouth type biscuits  exactly the same way as my mom used to make.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 14 minutes
Makes: 17 to 18 biscuits

Ingredients:

1. All Purpose flour/maida: 1 cup
2. Besan/split chickpea flour: 1 teaspoon
3. Sooji/semolina: 1 teaspoon
4. Salt: a pinch
5. Baking soda: a pinch
6. Baking powder: a pinch
7. Sugar: ½ cup powdered
8. Cardamom: 2 to 3
9. Ghee/ butter: a little less than ½ cup(i have used ghee/clarified butter)

Procedure:

1. Grind sugar and cardamom to a powder and keep aside.
2. Put  all dry ingredients except ghee  in a bowl. Mix them well.
3. Add  2 to 3 tablespoons of ghee at a time and prepare a soft dough. Knead the prepared dough for 4 to 5 minutes. I have used a little  less than ½ cup ghee for preparing this dough. You can see the leftover ghee. No need to add any water or milk.
4. Prepare 17 to 18 equal sized balls from the prepared dough.
5. Flatten the balls a little with your palm and arrange them in a baking tray a little distance apart. Make a small cut with the help of a knife. I made a small cut on some biscuits and left some biscuits  as it is.
6. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 13 to 14 minutes to a light brown color. My biscuits were ready in exactly 14 minutes.No need to bake them to a golden brown.
7. Remove Nankhatai biscuits from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes  and serve.
8. Once cooled they can be stored in a airtight jar for 2 to 3 weeks or more.

Note:

1. Adding 1 teaspoon besan and 1 teaspoon sooji/semolina gives the biscuits nice aroma and texture.
2. ½ cup maida and ½ cup besan/split chickpea flour can also be added to prepare Nankhatai.