Nan Khatai ( Cardamom Cookie)

Nan Khatai is an Indian short bread cookie with aromatic flavors that makes these cookies hard to resist. Honestly I am not a cookie fan at all but these cookies are so delicious, very soft and melt in your mouth its just too hard ignore them. The ghee and the touch cardamom brings the Nan Khatai to total different level, and not to forget the yogurt that gives a very soft and tangy taste in you mouth. The Nan Khatais are not very sweet, they are just perfect for that cup of sweet cardamom tea.

When I was growing up in Zanzibar as well as in Dar-es-Salaam we used to buy what we called in Kiswahili as Nangatai ( the pronunciation was lost somewhere in transit) but the Nangatais that we had and I believe until now they were very big almost the palm size and they had a big red or orange dot in the middle, the texture as far as I can remember was very crumby and dry they tasted vaguely the same. I assume that the orange dot was a dash of saffron. Pistachios were not very popular at that time. Nangatais were and are still served with an evening tea on daily or special occasion.

Its not a mystery to assume that the Nan Khatai were brought to East Africa by the Indians, considering the very obvious and prominent Gujarati population and culture in East Africa and of course the British left us with their signature evening tea which is a typical norm of any home in Zanzibar. The tea or Chai as we call it in Kiswahili is prepared with fresh milk and infused with plenty of crushed cardamom seeds and served in a very aristocratic tea cups. If you were to be invited to any home, you will notice that the hostesses were very proud and loved to flaunt their tea sets ( am not sure if its still the same, my grand mother did) with embroidery or lacy serviettes.  

This recipe was not prepared by me but I tried and tasted , made changes and approved it !! so I can safely say..Its to die for!!!

Ingredients:

Yields: 12 cookies

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Semolina

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

Ghee/soft butter or Melted Butter or combination of the two 100 gms/ 3.5 oz or 7 Tbl

2 Tbl yogurt

1/4 tsp Crushed cardamom 

1 Tbl crushed Pistachios

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 325, sift the combine all the dry ingredients together

In a stand or hand mixer, combine the fats and powdered sugar together , beat to light and fluffy mixture.

Add yogurt, beat for few minutes

Add the flour mixture to the fat mixture and mix though with hands thorough, you will get a soft dough.

Cover and keep aside or refrigerate for about 30 minutes to rest

Divide into 12 equal size portions, roll them into your palms to make size of a golf ball. Keep enough space in between. 

Press it within the palm to flatten it, make a light indentation in the middle using your thumb or a measuring spoon.

Place the cardamon and pistachio mixture

Bake for about 18-20 minutes, the cookies should not be brown or tan

Once they are out of the oven, leave them on the trey for about 10 mins and then keep them on cooling rack until completely cooled. 

Serve and enjoy it with your CHAI!