Besan or chickpea flour/garbanzo flour nankhatai or Indian shortbread cookies. Texture of these delectable cookies are light, flaky and crisp outside. And inside of the cookies are melt in mouth. You can feel the burst of flavour of ghee or clarified butter, baked chickpea flour or besan and cardamom.
What is nankhatai
Nankhatai are shortbread biscuits originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The word nankhatai is derived from the Persian word naan meaning bread and khatai from a Dari Persian word meaning biscuit. Source – Wikipedia
You can make these nankhatai with different flavour. Here are some different types of nankhatai from this blog.
1. Multigrain chocolate nankhatai
2. Whole wheat coffee jaggery nankhatai
6. Nankhatai
You don’t need any fancy ingredients to make these superbly delicious cookies. All the ingredients are easily available in your pantry. Main ingredient is besan or chickpea flour or garbanzo flour.
And flavoured with cardamom powder. Baked besan and cardamom will give a wonderful taste and flavour.
Also used semolina or suji with whole wheat flour or atta to give a crispy texture. You can use butter to make these cookies but better to use ghee or clarified butter. Aroma of ghee made these cookies heavenly. You can use shredded almond or cashew nuts in the dough. I didn’t but used some cashew nuts and pistachio for garnishing. But this step is optional. You can also make the cookies without nuts if you want. Do try and after tasting these cookies, I am sure you will never buy nankhatai from store. Homemade nankhatai are much better than store bought.
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Recipe
Besan or chickpea flour – 1 cup
Atta or whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
Semolina or suji – 2 tablespoon
Powdered sugar – 3/4 cup
Ghee or clarified butter – 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda – 1/4 teaspoon
Milk – 2 tablespoon or as required
Cashew nuts and pistachio as required
Method
1. Preheat the oven at 170°. Grease a baking tray or line with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl mix besan or chickpea flour, atta or whole wheat flour, semolina or suji, cardamom powder, baking powder and soda.
3. In a large bowl whisk melted ghee or clarified butter and powdered sugar. Whisk till mixture becomes creamy. If the weather is hot use room temperature ghee. No need to melt the ghee.
4. Now add all the dry ingredients. Combine everything to make a dough. In chilled weather ghee solidify quickly so if require add little milk to make a smooth dough. Or you can also add 2-3 tablespoon more ghee if you want. I used 2 tablespoon milk because my kids like crisp cookies. If you want mouth melting cookies skip milk and add 2-4 tablespoon more ghee to make a smooth dough.
5. Make small balls. I made 26 cookies with this dough. Press the balls gently with your palm and arrange on the greased or lined baking tray. Don’t forget to leave some space between the cookies.
6. Place half cashew nut on the middle of the every cookies. Press gently. You can also use pistachio or almond. I have used cashew nuts and pistachio. You can also use both on every cookies.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or till edges becomes light brown. Take out the cookies immediately after baking. I have made the cookies in two batches. And taken out the first batch after a few minutes. Colour of the cookies becomes brown. So don’t leave the cookies in hot oven after baking. Take out the baking tray from oven immediately after baking.
8. Enjoy the delicious cookies or nankhatai when completely cool down. Or store in airtight container for later use.
Happy baking!
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Besan Or Chickpea Flour Cookies/Nankhatai
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 baking tray
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Besan or chickpea flour
- 1/2 Cup Atta or whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp Suji or semolina
- 3/4 Cup Powdered sugar
- 3/4 Cup Ghee or clarified butter
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- tbsp Milk
- Cashew nuts and pistachio
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 170°. Grease a baking tray or line with parchment paper.
- In a bowl mix besan or chickpea flour, atta or whole wheat flour, semolina or suji, cardamom powder, baking powder and soda.
- In a large bowl whisk melted ghee or clarified butter and powdered sugar. Whisk till mixture becomes creamy. If the weather is hot use room temperature ghee. No need to melt the ghee.
- Now add all the dry ingredients. Combine everything to make a dough. In chilled weather ghee solidify quickly so if require add little milk to make a smooth dough. Or you can also add 2-3 tablespoon more ghee if you want. I used 2 tablespoon milk because my kids like crisp cookies. If you want mouth melting cookies skip milk and add 2-4 tablespoon more ghee to make a smooth dough.
- Make small balls. I made 26 cookies with this dough. Press the balls gently with your palm and arrange on the greased or lined baking tray. Don’t forget to leave some space between the cookies.
- Place half cashew nut on the middle of the every cookies. Press gently. You can also use pistachio or almond. I have used cashew nuts and pistachio. You can also use both on every cookies.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or till edges becomes light brown. Take out the cookies immediately after baking. I have made the cookies in two batches. And taken out the first batch after a few minutes. Colour of the cookies becomes brown. So don’t leave the cookies in hot oven after baking. Take out the baking tray from oven immediately after baking. Let the cookies cool down.
- Enjoy the delicious cookies or nankhatai when completely cool down. Or store in airtight container for later use.
These look divine! I would love to grab a few of these for myself! Very delicious nankhatais!
Nankhatais are an all time favorite and they take the top place in my list of fav cookies. The subtle flavor of cardamom and ghee combined with the nutty texture of besan makes it all the more delicious
These Nankhatais looks so perfect.. look at the crinkle.. so crispy and yumm.. Delicious share Sujataji..Another worth trying recipe from your treasure.