Nankhatai (Bakery-Style Sooji Biscuits with Cardamom)

Name: Nankhatai (Bakery-Style Sooji Biscuits with Cardamom)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 33 min
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients: ½ cup ghee; ½ cup powdered sugar; ¾ cup all-purpose flour; ½ cup Zaiqa Farina Flour (Sooji); 2 tbsp besan (gram flour); ½ tsp ground green cardamom; ¼ tsp baking powder; 1 pinch baking soda; 1 pinch salt; 1 tbsp milk; 2 tbsp Zaiqa Shelled Pistachios (Raw)

<p>This nankhatai recipe makes the crumbly, cardamom-scented biscuits you find in every Pakistani bakery tin, with a generous share of farina for a fine, sandy crunch. Ghee and sugar are beaten until pale and fluffy, the flours are folded in gently, and the dough rests so the sooji softens before baking. In the oven the tops crack open while the biscuits stay pale cream. Bake this nankhatai recipe once and you will keep a jar of them beside the chai all week.</p>

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 18 min
Total: 1 hr 5 min
Serves: 16
Difficulty: Intermediate

Recipe byAdam A.

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Method

First, whisk the flour, farina, besan, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl so the leaveners are evenly spread.

In a second bowl, beat the soft ghee and powdered sugar with a whisk or hand mixer for 4 to 5 minutes. It is ready when it has turned from yellow to pale cream and looks light and fluffy.

Then tip the dry mix into the ghee and fold it in with a spatula or your fingertips until it just comes together into a soft dough. Do not knead. If it stays crumbly, add the milk a teaspoon at a time until it holds when pressed.

Cover the bowl and rest the dough for 20 minutes at room temperature so the farina softens in the ghee. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking tray with parchment.

Next, roll the dough into 16 smooth balls of about 1 tablespoon each. Flatten each one slightly to about 1/2 inch thick and set them 2 inches apart, because they spread as they bake.

Press a pinch of chopped pistachio into the centre of each biscuit so it sticks.

Bake on the middle shelf for 15 to 18 minutes, turning the tray halfway. They are done when the tops have cracked and the bases are light golden, while the tops stay pale. Do not let them brown.

Finally, cool them on the tray for 10 minutes. Hot nankhatai are soft and break easily, and they firm up as they cool. Move them to a rack, then store this nankhatai recipe in an airtight jar once completely cold.

Notes

Meet the cook

Adam A.

Some dishes can't be rushed, and I don't try to rush them.

I write about the cooking of Pakistan and North India the way it's really learned: by paying attention. The shimmer of oil that's ready for cumin. The point where onions stop softening and start to deepen. The moment a dal turns from thin to silky and is finally ready for its tadka. Those cues matter more than any timer, so every recipe I write includes them.

My work at Zaiqa covers heritage dishes like sabut masoor and chana, the spice work that holds them together, and practical guides to the ingredients themselves: how to choose them, store them and cook each one properly. If you want to know why a classic tastes the way it does, and how to get it right in your own kitchen, you're in the right place.

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