Nan khatai are Indian version of shortbread cookies. I remember my mom use to make it all the time when I was little, so when she forwarded me the recipe I had to give it a try. There are different versions of the nan khatai, this recipe is simple and easy to make, no fuss. Theses are perfect for an afternoon tea (chai).

Prep time: ~ 20 minutes
Makes: 30

Ingredients:

2.5 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup margarine
1 cup powder sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup of soji
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp rose essence

For the decoration
orange food color

Method:

Using a hand blender mix margarine and sugar together. Then add an egg and blend. Once the mixture is smooth add rest of the ingredients and blend.

Once all the ingredients are uniformed, knead for few minutes. Then in a baking tray, make medium size balls (rolling evenly in your palm and slightly flattening).

For the decoration, take orange food color and add little bit of water-just enough to make a watery paste. Using your ring take a little bit of color and slightly press on top.

Preheat oven at 350, for approximately 15 minutes or until golden. Once done let it cool before storing.

That's it!

Baking

9:31:00 PM

Over the weekend I baked for the very first time! I decided to make pistachio biscotti. It sounds fancy,  but if you have experience baking before it is very doable. The recipe I used is from My Indian Kitchen by Hari Nayak. I have tried his recipe before (here), and just like before this recipe was also simple and easy to follow with good results.

Since this was my first baking experience I found it difficult to work with the sticky dough, in hindsight I should have used the mixer, instead of 'folding' the dough myself. I think it will take a few more sessions before I become comfortable with baking. 

Prep time: 30 minutes
Makes 26 biscotti

Ingredients: 

*1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted pistachios
2 tsp grated orange zest
*3 eggs beaten

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, pistachios, and orange zest. Make a well in the center, then add eggs and fold them into the mixture to make a sticky dough.

Divide the dough into two equal sections on a clear floured surface. Using your hands roll each section into a log approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Place each log onto an oiled baking tray (cooking sheet would work better, but I didn't have any), leaving space between for spreading.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the logs from the oven and allow it cool. Decrease the oven temperature to 275 degrees.

Once the cookie logs have cooled down, using a knife cut the logs into slices. Place the cut-side down and return them to the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly brown on the sides--turn them once for equal baking.  

Note
* The original recipe calls for 1 cup of flour and two eggs. However, in my case the 2 eggs were not sufficient for the mixture to turn into dough therefore I added one more egg and some extra dough as needed. 

Baking

11:01:00 PM