Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies are the most famous cookies in India. They are popular for their signature melt in the mouth, airy texture and an earthy cardamom flavor. They can be made at home using everyday pantry essentials 🙂 

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies are typically made with all purpose flour, semolina, ghee or clarified butter, gram flour and some cardamom for that heady aroma. One will come across various recipes for these Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies and each recipe is perfect in their own way. I have a recipe here which I’ve used many times over and it never disappointed me.

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies have turned out perfect each time, they are beautifully white and perfectly melt in the mouth. We have to in keep in mind that these cookies won’t turn out perfect if we were to skimp on the ghee. It is the ghee that makes them so delicate and delicious. The next most important thing we have to ensure is to bake them right so that they look pretty and not brown or golden.

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies may be made with gram flour too but this recipe here doesn’t have any. Also, Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies do not call for any rising agents. This recipe has no baking soda or baking powder. If you personally feel the need to add any, feel free to do that. I’ll include tips on that as well. 🙂

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies has a soft, crumbly texture and as you can see in the picture, it is perfect. It doesn’t have any raising agents and yet the texture is lovely. This is because the proportions are correct and the dough for the cookie was soft as opposed to dry and crumbly. One more thing which I love about Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies is that the dough does not need chilling. We need to make the dough and simply bake these beauties.

Let us make some Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies.

Preheat the oven @170’c. Line a baking tray with parchment.

Sieve together all purpose flour, semolina, powdered sugar and cardamom powder in a large mixing bowl.

Add ghee/ clarified butter one tablespoon at a time and start making a dough using your hands.

I used all of the 9 tablespoons of ghee. You may need slightly more or less depending on the climate and the absorption capacity of the flour used.

The dough should be very smooth and soft. If it crumbles easily, it means it needs a little more ghee/ clarified butter.

Once the dough is ready, make small lemon sized, smooth balls and flatten them slightly.

You can garnish each cookie with some dry fruits, etc.

Bake these @ 170’c for 15 minutes. The bake time would differ depending on your oven too. But the cookies must remain white and not turn golden or darker.

Once they are baked, let them cool on cooling racks for an hour at least because they will crisp up.

Once they have cooled completely, store them in airtight jars. They keep fresh for 3-4 days.

Print

Nankhatai | Egg free Indian Shortbread Cookies

Light, delicious and melt in the mouth Indian cookies are perfect to pair with cup of tea or coffee. 

Course Tea Time

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 12 cookies

Author Shreya Ashish Tiwari

Ingredients

• 100 gms all purpose flour maida
• 10 gms fine semolina
• 9 tbsp ghee clarified butter
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven @170'c. Line a baking tray with parchment.

   
   

2. Sieve together all purpose flour, semolina, powdered sugar and cardamom powder in a large mixing bowl.
   

3. Add ghee/ clarified butter one tablespoon at a time and start making a dough using your hands.
   

4. I used all of the 9 tablespoons of ghee. You may need slightly more or less depending on the climate and the absorption capacity of the flour used. 
   

5. The dough should be very smooth and soft. If it crumbles easily, it means it needs a little more ghee/ clarified butter.
   

6. Once the dough is ready, make small lemon sized, smooth balls and flatten them slightly.
   

7. You can garnish each cookie with some dry fruits, etc.
   

8. Bake these @ 170'c for 15 minutes. The bake time would differ depending on your oven too. But the cookies must remain white and not turn golden or darker.
   

9. Once they are baked, let them cool on cooling racks for an hour at least because they will crisp up.
   

10. Once they have cooled completely, store them in airtight jars. They keep fresh for 3-4 days.

Love,
Shreya

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