RAGI NANKHATAI

Ragi Nankhatai or Finger Millet Cookies is a light, crunchy and crumbly vegan cookie with delightful aroma of cardamom. In short, melt in mouth cookies that anyone will love. These cookies are perfect accompaniments for any tea party, and can also be given as a personalized gift to your family and friends during holidays or anytime of the year.

Traditionally nankhatai is prepared using maida (all purpose flour). These are also referred to as shortbread biscuits or pecan sandies, ofcouse with some minor variations. It is called narayan katar in konkani. A very popular tea time snack available in most bakery shops in India. After trying out spicy butter biscuits, dry fruit cookies, and nankhatai, many readers requested me to post a cookie recipe using wheat flour (atta). I decided to make a new version of nankhatai using whole wheat flour (wheat nankhatai). The flavor of these cookies were really much better than traditional nankhatai. It was crumblier and healthy too. My readers were kind enough to give me positive feedback. With all these I was inspired to experiment further with the traditional recipe at home.

This time the experiment was mainly for my little one who stares at us for every bite we eat. The first thing that came to mind was how about making some cookies or biscuits at home. I wanted it to be healthy as well as tasty. Ragi flour is good source of protein, calcium, iron and fiber. Like oats, this is one of the most nutritious food, low in fat and is easy to digest. In India, we also give ragi porridge to kids.

I have kept the traditional recipe as is, but just substituted half of the all purpose flour with ragi flour. It was perfect. The way any nankhatai should be – crumbly and crunchy. Your house is going to smell like a bakery. Make sure your reserve some for you even before you serve because this will disappear in no time :-). My little one had a very big smile on his face after he had his first bite. What more do I have to say on this 🙂 Plus, it reminded me of the ragi biscuit that is popular in our hometown, Mangaluru.

Preparation time : 1 hour
Serves : 15 Nankhatai

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Ingredients for Ragi Nankhatai

Ragi Flour / Finger Millet flour – 3/4 cup
All purpose flour / Maida – 3/4 cup
Vegetable shortening – 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp (also called vanaspati / dalda in India)
Baking soda – 3/4 tsp
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder – 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Almonds – 15 for topping

Steps to prepare Ragi Nankhatai

Step I

• In a bowl combine ragi flour, all purpose flour, shortening, soda, sugar, cardamom powder and salt to form a dough. Do not knead.
• Note that I have not added any water while forming the dough. Vegetable shortening binds everything together.
• Cover it and keep it aside for atleast 30 minutes.

Step II

• Preheat the oven for 300 degree F / 148 degree C.
• Form golf size balls from the dough and press to flatten it slightly. Place an almond at the center of each nankhatai.
• Keep it in a baking tray lined with parchment paper or on a silicone mat.
• Bake these cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes or until cracks form at the top or bottom turns golden brown in color. (Check the tip section)
• Allow it to cool down for about 10 – 15 minutes. Cookies will crisp up upon cooling.
• Ragi Nankhatai is now ready. Serve with cup of coffee / tea and enjoy.

Tip:.

• Baking time of the cookie may vary depending on the size of the cookie and the oven. Remove when you see golden brown color at the bottom. If its not baked enough then bake them for few more minutes.
• Do not remove the cookies from the baking pan till it cools down completely else these cookies are going to break apart.
• You can also bake this in microwave on convection mode
• See that your dough is not too dry. You should be able to form balls with no effort. If required, add a tsp of milk (or more) to increase the moisture.

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