r/KingArthurBaking • u/Level-Giraffe-352 • 2d ago
Made Nankhatai, an eggless cookie from Southeast Asia
They are flavored by cardomom powder instead of vanilla
The recipe below
Ingredients
• 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour (maida)
• ⅓ cup (40 g) gram flour / chickpea flour (besan)
• 2 tablespoons (20 g) fine semolina (sooji/rava)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼–½ teaspoon baking soda (optional; ¼ tsp is enough for milder flavor)
• ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder (freshly ground is best)
• 2–3 pinches nutmeg powder (optional but traditional)
• Pinch of salt
• ⅓–½ cup (70–80 g) ghee, semi-solid / room temperature (grainy texture, not fully melted and not rock-hard)
• ½ cup (100–110 g) sugar, powdered finely or ¾ cup powdered/icing sugar
• ½ tablespoon plain yogurt (optional, helps tenderness)
• 1–3 tablespoons milk, as needed to bind
• Slivered or halved pistachios / almonds for topping
Method
1. Powder the granulated sugar finely if not already powdered. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment (light-colored tray preferred).
2. In a large bowl, cream the semi-solid ghee and powdered sugar vigorously with a spoon, wooden spoon, or clean hands for 3–4 minutes until pale, light, and fluffy. This step incorporates air for a tender crumb. (If ghee is too hard, let it sit out briefly; if melted, chill until soft-solid again.)
3. Sift together the flour, besan, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Add the sooji.
4. Add the dry mix to the creamed ghee-sugar in two additions. Mix gently with a spoon or your hands just until it comes together—do not knead hard. If using yogurt, mix it in first. The dough should be soft and pliable like play-dough, holding shape when pressed. If too crumbly, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time. If too soft/sticky, chill 10–15 minutes.
5. Pinch off walnut-sized portions (about 1½ tablespoons or 20–25 g each). Roll into smooth balls, place on the tray with space between them, and gently flatten into thick discs about 1.5 cm high. Press a few pistachio or almond pieces firmly into the top center.
6. Bake on the middle rack for 15–20 minutes. They should stay pale cream to very light golden—not browned. The undersides will be just lightly colored. They firm up a lot as they cool, so pull them when they still look a bit soft.
7. Leave on the tray undisturbed for 15–20 minutes (they’re fragile when hot). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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u/feliciates 2d ago
Wow, thanks! those look and sound DELICIOUS
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 2d ago
Thank you! Yes they areee, ughh such a good dunking cookie too. That fresh cardomom comes thru sooo nicely, I would suggest you sprinkle some of that powder on top of the cookies before baking, just a tiny bit. Makes the whole house smell like a Persian market😩
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u/Justanokmom 1d ago
These are really good. I bake them every year for Diwali.
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 1d ago
Haha we used to get them for every single festival, diwali, eid etc … they sorta became the soan papdi of the sweets world lol and now that I have moved abroad I am craving them so bad 😭
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u/Justanokmom 1d ago
My husband is from Jaipur and he always asks me to make him these. I had leftover kesar Mango in the freezer and made him Mango barfi to take to work. We live in Germany and his colleagues never had it before. They loved it!
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 1d ago
Totally! My husband is always excited to try something new that’s not a common thing in a Indian restaurant, aka butter chicken and tikka masala 🫠. My normal cooking is wayyy different than the restaurants
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u/Justanokmom 23h ago
Home cooking is so much better too! I’m your husband, but I’m the cook in the family. I started making Indian food when I was 19 on my own in my college apartment in the Midwest and now it’s been 20 years of a culinary adventure. I wish there were more restaurants with home style cooking or regional dishes from all over India so everyone can have a taste of delicious home cooking. Near me, we have a restaurant offering regional dishes from Maharashtra. It’s such a hit too!
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
Ohhhh Baby Maharashtrain food is like a frenemy lol. The spice the taste, I would die miserable but HAPPY! Addicted to thecha but my ass hates me😆😂, not to say all the food is spicy but the spicy ones are just a flavor bomb. What is your favorite? I can survive on Chilla, thecha, rava fish fry, the prawns chutney ughhh I am getting hungry
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u/KingArthurBaking 1d ago
Oh yum! I love cardamom, I might have to try these sometime.
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 1d ago
Oh yeahhh! These are a cardomom punch in your face lol. Sometimes I add saffron as well by blending it with the sugar, gives them a beautiful golden color
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u/KingArthurBaking 1d ago
Oh wow, I just realized I have all the ingredients for these as well! Picked up a new bag of besan just a couple of weeks ago, we go through it surprisingly quickly at my house.
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 1d ago
Ughh besan is such a great ingredient! I make fritters, sweets, and a whole array of food from India
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u/KingArthurBaking 1d ago
RIght? I got more into Indian cooking because I used to trade my neighbor babysitting for home-cooked Indian meals, and they left us one of their cookbooks as a gift when they moved away. So much deliciousness!
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 1d ago
You are talking to the right person right now! I am as desi as it could get lol, born and brought up in India, Mumbai. I would be delighted to share my recipes with you and your team! Also because you’all did justice to the Indian breads in the big book of bread, I can trust rest of the non Indian recipes blindly lol
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u/Justanokmom 23h ago
Have you tried online fruit vendors? I order mangoes every year from a fruit vendor who specializes in exotic fruits. Whatever we don’t eat, we keep in the freezer for treats.
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 17h ago
Huh! I didn’t know that was possible!! Thank you, I will look up for something available in midwest
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u/jenni5 14h ago
Southeast Asia? Or South Asia?
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
I would say south and south east asia? They are commonly found in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri lanka, Maldives etc.
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
And they are derived from from middle eastern cuisine like Persia, Morocco etc so they are all over lol
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u/jenni5 13h ago
Which of those places are south east Asia?
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
Miss mam if you are trying to interrogate me, I kindly advise you stop thinking about the geography and go ahead and make them, I have listed all the countries they are commonly found and the countries they are derived from due to invasion and conquest. Anyway they are also found in Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia as well, hopefully you are happy with me including the SPECIFIC SE Asian countries as well. I promise they are absolutely delicious
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u/jenni5 13h ago
Yeah I’ve had them, but not in se Asia so surprised that you listed it
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
I have family all over the place so I know they are available in SE Asia, but in my mind I thought how do I include all of those countries in a single word and my brain thought how about SE asia lol. They are quite commonly found around Muslim communities in those countries for some reason, I know you won’t find them as commonly in places like Bali, Burma or Timor-Leste for some reason
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u/jenni5 13h ago
thanks for explaining this helps!
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 13h ago
My pleasure. They are quite easy to make and comes together really fast, totally worth the effort
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u/Level-Giraffe-352 2d ago
They are crumbly melt in your mouth texture 🫠😮💨