Thursday, December 10, 2015

Eggless Dates-based Nankhatai (Indian shortbread cookies)

Inspired by the recipe here: http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/nankhatai-recipe/



Ingredients

  • 1 cup Maida or all purpose Flour
  • ¼ cup Besan/gram flour
  • ½ tsp Baking soda
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 2 tbsp Sooji/Rava/Cream of Wheat
  • ⅛ tsp Nutmeg powder
  • ½ tsp Cardamom powder
  • ½ cup Ghee
  • ½ cup Sugar
  • 10 Dates
  • Quarter cup Milk
  • Few Almonds or Dates, chopped
  • Decorative Sugar



Method
  1. Grind Dates with Milk till it is a smooth mixture. Keep it aside.
  2. Cream the Ghee and Sugar in a food processor.
  3. Mixture should become smooth, light and creamy.
  4. Sift the the following dry ingredients - maida or all purpose flour, gram flour/besan, baking powder and baking soda. keep the sifted dry ingredients aside.
  5. add milk/dates ground mixture to the creamed ghee+sugar mixture. mix very well.
  6. now add the sifted dry ingredients. also add the sooji/rava/cream of wheat, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.
  7. gently mix everything. do not knead. just mix and gather to a smooth dough. if the mixture is too crumbly and you cannot bring together to a dough, then add 1 to 3 tbsp of milk. mix lightly and bring the mixture to a dough.
  8. pinch medium sized balls from the dough.
  9. roll them evenly in your palms. slightly flatten them. press decorative sugar and/or almonds on the top lightly.
  10. you can also make some criss cross designs on the nankhatais with a fork or toothpick.
  11. place the cookies in a baking tray.
  12. keep some space between them as they expand while baking.
  13. bake the nankhatai in a pre heated oven at 350F for 25 mins till light golden.
  14. remove and place them on wire racks.



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