Indian Biscuits | Nankhatai

This year for Diwali I baked traditional Indian biscuits. I have many fond memories from my childhood of my mother preparing sweets and savory snacks to share and enjoy during Diwali. She would spend weeks and most weekends cooking up a storm. My sisters and I are so fortunate to have these memories.

As my sassy little girls grow up, I hope to infuse a bit of culture into our home and their lives, such that they can look back with similar fond memories. This year, we lit traditional diyas around the house, they wore Indian dresses, and I visited Raina's preschool to teach her little buds about Diwali.

Below is the recipe for amazingly delicious, Indian shortbread cookies called nankhati. Beware, they are full of fat, so either hit the gym, or plan to share.

Lastly, I have to mention that total inspiration to bake Diwali sweets this year came from this post from Love Laugh & Mirch.

Nankhati Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 cups of baking flour

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1 & 1/4 cups of butter (at room temperature)

1/4 cup of powdered sugar (granulated sugar is fine as a substitute)

1/2 cup of semolina

1 tsp of ground cardamom

2/tbsp. of powdered almonds

2 tbsp. of ground pistachios

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 320 F

2. Shake the flour, baking powder and baking soda through a sieve.

3. Using an electric hand-mixer, whisk the butter and sugar for 10 minutes till the mixture is white/fluffy

4. Combine the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture until well combined

5. Using a fun cookie cutter, roll out the dough and cut out cookies. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper

6. Bake for 20 -35 minutes. The bottom of the cookies will be golden brown when fully cooked

7. Let cool, place on a cake stand, and take 10 billion pictures for a blog post that nobody, but your family will read. :)

Cake stand from IKEA.

Enjoy!