Nan khatai - My long lost love

I believe you all are set for Christmas and counting your 5-4-3-2. Well, the festival Christian in me is alive and almost all the immediate necessities have been taken care off to make the big day glamorous. Have you all chosen the color for Christmas? For me it is always red and green. This year with Abbey running around and plucking, piercing, and ripping being the keywords running in the house, Christmas tree is decked up over the table. Sending gifts - not started, but cookie making and cake making is showing a graph of high peaks with several tried and tested recipes to make sure I am on the safer side. 

I was neither interested in cookies nor cakes as a child. The only cookie or tea biscuit which I ever liked were Nan Khatais from Suburban stores. There was a supermarket named Suburban in Kochi, which used to sell those yummilicious snow white balls and I always look forward to our trip there to fetch one or two packets. My happiness was short lived as they closed the shop soon after beginning and I was never satisfied with another Nan khatai in my life. 

So this month’s baking started with my long lost love, took the recipe from Show me the curry - can’t go wrong and it was perfect, but I really do miss my Suburban Nan khatais.   

Ingredients

Unsalted Butter – 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz) at room temperature
Powdered Sugar – 1/2 cup
Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 cup
Baking Powder – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1/8 tsp

Method

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degress C.

1. In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar (little at a time) with the softened butter until mixture is light and creamy.
2. Add Nutmeg Powder and Cardamom Powder and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift All Purpose Flour with Baking Powder and Salt.
4. Combine Flour mixture (little at a time) with Butter Mixture to form a soft dough.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
6. Knead dough once again and divide into 12 equal portions.
7. Roll each portion into a smooth ball with no cracks and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax/parchment paper or lightly greased foil. Leave ample space between dough balls.
7. Bake on the middle rack for 22-25 minutes (keep a close eye – nan khatai should remain white).
8. Remove from oven and let the nan khatai cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely before eating.
9. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

The recipe search for Suburban Nan Khatai continues ........