If you love cashew and kaju katli, you are going to love these nankhatais. Loaded with cashews, these cookies are crispy, crumbly and melt in the mouth delicious! It will literally melt in mouth when you take a bite!
If you are wondering what is a Nankhatai, these are egg free Indian shortbread cookies made mainly with ghee/butter, sugar, flour, some besan and semolina, flavoured with spices like cardamom and often topped with chopped nuts. They are made thick and dome shaped, though some other shapes have also gained popularity.
These nankhatais are made with whole wheat flour, some semolina, lots of cashews, ghee and sweetened with raw sugar (desi khand). The flavour of cashews is so prominent and beautiful that they don’t need any spices to support the flavour. The texture is crispy, crumbly and it starts to melt in the mouth when you take a bite. It has all the decadence of a kaju katli.
These cookies are so flavourful and easy to make that they will make a great addition to any festivities, be it Deepavali, Dussehra, Holi or Rakshabandhan!
Here are all the ingredients you will need:
Whole wheat flour forms the base for this cookies though it is used in the same amount as cashews. It provides binding and it holds the cookie together. This is our regular Gehu ka aata, a fine milled whole wheat flour.
Cashews are a big part of these cookies, used in the same quantity as whole wheat flour. It provides an unmistakable cashew flavour and melt in the mouth texture. It also reduces the need of fat in the recipe as cashews have a lot of fat of their own.
Raw Sugar or Khand is the sweetener in this recipe. It is unrefined sugar made from sugar cane. It has more nutrients compared to refined sugar and has a beautiful caramel note to its flavour.
Ghee makes the cookies short and helps with the melt in the mouth texture. It also adds a buttery flavour to the cookies and adds to the decadence. This recipe uses lesser ghee than most nankhatai recipes, but still gives amazing results.
Semolina or Rawa or Sooji is used in this recipe in a small quantity. It make the texture of the cookies slightly crunchier. You can however skip it in this recipe if you want.
And that it!
Now that we have covered all the ingredients needed, here is the detailed written recipe:
1 cup (130 g) - Wholewheat flour 1 cup (120 g) - Cashews 1 tbsp (10 g) - Semolina/Rawa/Sooji 1/2 cup (80 g) - Ghee 2/3 cup (85 g) - Raw Sugar 1/8 tsp - Salt 1/2 tsp - Baking Powder 1/2 tsp - Baking Soda 1 tbsp - Chopped cashewsIngredients
Instructions
Notes