Nan-Khatai.. simple biscuits for anytime snack

Landing back on this page after a long time. Feels like I am in a whole new place... really ... am not kidding. I am so lost that I am  trying to figure out how to post :) 

I saw a lot of comments and likes over these days that I was away from the blog. Nice to know and hear from you all and the best part that you liked what I have shared in this little space. Few of my friends have also been asking why I stopped blogging. Answering that would be tough as I cant say I was busy instead I would like to admit that I have been lazy. 

As a come back I thought of posting something sweet. A simple biscuit recipe that everyone will love anytime of the day. Nan-khatai is a biscuit version that has been made for ages. I remember by mom stocking it up in big boxes for us to munch on all day. I was an all-time snacker in my school-days, college-days and I still fall in that category. I can stay away from snacks as long as it is away from my sight. But try putting a box in front of me and I can finish it in no time. This snack has been my favorite for a veryyyy long time now. There are a lot many versions  that people make but I have been strictly following my moms recipe which has been fool-proof till date.

The recipe calls for very little ingredients and just a few mins to put everything together. Add up 15-20 mins to baking time and voila you can enjoy a perfect snack. I am sure you and your family will enjoy it as much as we do. My kids love taking this as an additional snack to school to share and enjoy with their friends. 

Makes... 15 cookies

Serve option...@ Room Temp with garma-garam chai

This is what u'll need....

Maida/All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Sooji/Rava - 1/4 cup
Besan/Gram-flour - 1/4 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Milk(if required)- 1 - 2 tspn
Baking powder - 1/2 tspn
Baking soda -1/4 tspn
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tspn
Crushed nuts - 1 tbspn

Here is the stir....

• Transfer powdered sugar to a working bowl. I measured half a cup after I powdered sugar in my mixer/blender. We like it mild sweet . Adjust it to suit your taste

• Pour in half a cup of ghee into the bowl. It is preferrable to use room temp/melted ghee. If you store ghee in the fridge like some of friends, you might want to leave it outside to get back to room temperature before using it/microwave for a minute or so. Mine is always stored in shelf so I skip this step

• Mix sugar and ghee well to blend them evenly

• Measure in maida into the bowl

• Follow maida with 1/4 cup of sooji/rava. Some dont use sooji. If you want to skip it, you can use 1/2 cup gram-flour in total instead of 1/4th cup of gram-flour as the recipe calls for

• If you have used sooji in the previous step, then it is time to add 1/4th cup of gram-flour now

• Spoon in cardamom powder, baking powder and baking soda

• Mix everything together. You can use an electric blender to do this but I just used a spoon as its a very small batch. When I make more then I stick to using the blender

• When everything comes together it should look like a dough. In case your mixture looks crumbly, add a few drops of milk to make the dough. Mine did not need any this time

• Pinch out a little dough and shape it into a flat circle. Repeat the same with rest of the dough and arrange them on a plate

• Use a knife and make a cross(X) mark on top of each biscuit

• In a small blender  jar crush some nuts coarsely. I used cashews and almonds. Spread this on a small plate

• Pick each biscuit and press the side with cross mark into the nuts. a little coat of nuts should stick to the biscuit

• Place all the nuts-coated biscuits in a baking tray and pop it into the oven. Bake it for around 15-20 mins at 180 degrees. Keep checking towards the end. Dont let them turn very brown. They tend to become chewy if cooked for a long time. 

• When  you take them out of the oven it will be little soft but they will settle to proper texture and  bite when they cool down

• Enjoy your biscuits with your cup of chai :) 

Note:

• Using sooji reduces the gram-flour flavor. So we prefer this but you can replace sooji with gram-flour if you prefer that
• Keep an eye on the cookies after 15 mins so that they dont turn brown
• Dont overcook the cookies as they will turn chewy
• Use milk only if the mixture is crumbly else skip it