Nankhatai are traditional Indian cookies that are similar to shortbread. These are flavored with cardamom and made with ghee (clarified butter).
❤️ You’ll Love This Nankhatai Recipe
Versatile: This nankhatai recipe is a simple and basic version. You can make variations like chocolate, Nut specific (like almonds, cashews, pista), saffron, thandai, etc. {see tips section below for more details} Perfect sweet for the festive season: Nankhatai are usually made during the Diwali festival and served (along with savory Diwali snacks) to guests who came home for good wishes.
Flaky with tender crumbs Crisp from outside Yet melt-in-your-mouth kind soft Aromatic because of cardamom powder and nutmeg Super rich with buttery flavor Has nutty flavor (from besan) with some crunchiness (from semolina)
Fun Fact: While growing up in India, the oven at home was so rare. So mom used to create oven-like thing on the stovetop. Sand (or salt) is added into the large aluminum pot (patila) and as sand heats up it creates oven-like heat inside when covered. She baked nankhatai in that every Diwali.
🧾 Ingredient Notes
All purpose flour (maida): It is traditionally used and highly recommend if you want bakery-style nankhatai. You can use wheat flour instead but it will be slightly dense. Besan (gram flour / chickpea flour): It adds a subtle earthy and nutty flavor to nankhatai. Semolina (Sooji / Rava): It gives a nice crunch to every bite like gritty texture. Powdered sugar: I have used store-bought one, also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar. You can use regular sugar that is powdered into the grinder, it works fine too. Ghee: DO NOT substitute and DO NOT reduce the amount of fat. It plays a major role to make these Indian cookies flaky textured. Butter or shortening (dalda) doesn’t give the same texture.
TIP: the consistency of the ghee is key here. It should be at room temperature (in semi-solid form) You can see in the ingredient pic. If it’s in the solid form then you won’t be able to knead the dough. If it’s melted then you’ll end up with the loose, sticky dough.
Cardamom powder: Use store-bought or just grind green cardamoms into powder. Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Nutmeg: I highly recommend freshly grated nutmeg using a Microplane zester. If you have ready ground nutmeg in the pantry then you can use that. Nuts: Used as a garnishing. I have used almonds and pistachios.
👩🍳 How To Make Nankhatai? (Stepwise Photos)
Preheat the oven 350°F (180°C) for at least 10 minutes. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and keep it ready.
- Take dry ingredients (all purpose flour, besan, semolina, salt, cardamom powder and nutmeg) in a bowl.
- Whisk it until everything is incorporated well.
- Add ghee (IMP NOTE: Ghee should be at room temperature in semi-solid form.)
- Start mixing it using a spatula.
- When it gets like a crumbly texture switch to your hands and start kneading. The warmth from your palm will melt the ghee slightly and it helps to form the dough.
- The dough should be smooth (not loose or sticky).
- Now take a tablespoon size of dough and start rolling.
- Make a smooth, crack-free ball.
- Make an indentation in the center with the help of your finger.
- (this helps to create uniform cracks from the center while baking instead of having all over the cookie)
- Place the nankhatai few inches apart on the prepared baking tray. Add sliced almonds and pistachios in the center.
- Bake into the preheated oven for 17-18 minutes.
- Let the nankhatai cool down in the tray itself for 10 minutes. Don’t touch them, they might get break or fall apart. During this cooling time, they will firm up more.
- Then transfer them on the cooling rack using a spatula and let these Indian cookies cool down completely. If you look at the bottom of the nankhatai, it should be nicely golden brown.
💭 Expert Tips For Perfect Nankhatai
Fat amount: Do not reduce the amount of ghee. The fat vs flour ratio has to be right to achieve a flaky texture of nankhatai. Fat consistency: Ghee has to be at room temperature in semi-solid form (check ingredient pic of the reference.)
Troubleshoot:
The nankhatai dough became loose and sticky: This may happen if you are living in a hot climate and ghee is melted while kneading the dough. If so, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. So ghee will solidify slightly and it won’t be soft anymore. Nankhatai crumbled up: You have touched them too soon. Let them cool completely before touching or lifting by hand. As they come out from the oven, they are still soft and fragile. Let it cool down in the pan itself without disturbing for 10 minutes. They will firm up during this cooling time. Then using a spatula transfer them to the cooling rack and let them cool down completely.
🍪 Storage Instructions
Baked nankhatai stays good for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container. The nankhatai dough can be made a day before and you can store it in the refrigerator. At the time of baking shape and bake. The shaped dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Arrange them on the tray, freeze until frozen. Then transfer them into a freezer-safe ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. Note that, you need to increase the baking time by a minute or two as you’ll be baking frozen cookies.
📖 Variations For Indian Cookies
Chocolate nankhatai: add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder Mixed nuts: add 3-4 tablespoons of milk masala powder. Or add thandai powder. Chocolate chips: Add around ⅓ cup of mini chocolate chips. Mukhwas cookies using Fennel seeds: add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar-coated fennel (fennel candy) Rose nankhatai: add ½ teaspoon of rose essence, a couple of drops of red food color to make the dough pink (it’s optional) and garnish with edible rose petals. Saffron nankhatai: crush 10-12 saffron strands in mortar and pastel, add 1 teaspoon of warm milk to it and mix. Add this to the dough. Because of the addition of milk, if the dough gets loose or sticky then you can a tablespoon of nut powder like ground almonds or cashews. Nut specific: e.g. for pistachio nankhatai, add 2-3 tablespoons of ground pistachios, few drops of green food color (optional). Similarly, you can add ground almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.
PS Tried this nankhatai recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback!
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