Nan Kathai

If you have been wondering why there is so much silence on SSTT, its simply because I've been too busy. Too busy - enjoying myself this summer! We're planning trips and heading outdoors almost every weekend and making sure we stock up on loads of snacks to-go. That being said, one fine day I decided I had to dish up something all by myself. Something that we could throw into a zip-top bag and take it with us to munch as we rolled down the highway. And, right then I remembered this crunchy little, long forgotten (in my case) Indian cookie - Nan Kathai. Of course I did not know how to put it together...but why do we have the internet?! I remember having come across this one on Manjula's Kitchen - A site that I refer a lot of times when I want to 'see' how to make stuff rather than just read. You should look it up. She has some great videos wherein she explains recipes with utmost patience and makes it all seem like a breeze!

Ingredients

1/3 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/3 cup fine semolina/rava/sooji
1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

A pinch of baking soda
1/4 tsp green cardamom seed coarsely powder (Elaichi powder)
2 tbsp Mixture of finely sliced almonds and pistachios

Method
- Pre heat the oven to 375 degree.

- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until completely blended. I cannot resist myself from eating a glob of this! Horrible, I am, eh?!
- In another bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, semolina, gram flour, baking soda and cardamom powder and set aside
- Add this to the butter and sugar mixture and knead together to make soft, smooth dough
- Make small, equal sized balls of the dough (about 1 inch in diameter)
- Press each ball between your palms to form the shape of a thick cookie and place on a greased cookie/baking sheet
- Dab each nan kathai cookie with a pinch of the almonds and pistachios
- Place nan kathais in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until nan khatais are lightly gold brown
- Allow nan kathais to cool down completely before taking off cookie/baking sheet

Makes about 20 light, crunchy nan kathai - Perfect for tea-time, travel-time or just about any time!!