Today we are welcoming Ria, from Ria’s Collection to our table! This is Ria’s first snow and first Christmas in the U.S. so we are especially happy to have her join us! Chris Ann met Ria at one of LoveFeast Table’s BlogLove, blogger networking events in Minneapolis. Today Ria is going to share with us a cookie familiar to her memories of India! You can find more delicious treats on her blog! ~Chris Ann & Kristin
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Ihave never baked so much in so little time. Phew! That was a LOT of baking happening in my kitchen. I must say,my oven is still grateful. It hasn’t given up on me 🙂 But trust me, it feels so good to be near the oven during winter…keeps you warm and keeps your house warm, too! Plus, you get to eat your favourite baked goodies!
Last month I met Chris Ann for a small blogger meet in Minneapolis. I have to say, she was a very graceful host! She brought us some yummy yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies! I remember her saying that she slaved over it…I don’t think so! 😉 Anyhow, it was delicious. During the meet, we were having a casual chat and she mentioned that she would like me to do a guest post for their ‘Cookie Exchange‘ event on the blog during the month of December. I agreed on the spot. Why wouldn’t I? 🙂
But the challenge for me was that she asked me if I could bake some sort of an Indian cookie. Umm, now that’s interesting! Indian cookie? I had to think about it for a while because we Indians, really don’t have a ‘typical’ Indian baked goodie. But then again, there should be something that we can call it ‘Indian’…and yes! it was a cookie called ‘Nankatai’ or ‘Nancuts’ as we call at home. Indian cookies or ‘biscuits’ as we call it, is never soft like the ‘cookies’ that we get in US. It’s crisp, crunchy and even crumbly, at times. So this is the texture of this cookie/biscuit too. 🙂
Nancuts is the simplest of all the cookies. It’s a very simple 3-ingredient recipe. You don’t need any fancy equipment to get it done. At any given point, you can bake these cookies in less than half an hour!Usually this cookie is baked plain or maybe with a hint of crushed/powdered cardamom. I thought of giving it a twist and added chocolate chips to the dough.
NANCUTS/NANKATAI
Recipe by Amma (my mom)
Yields- 20-22 cookies
Ingredients:
All purpose flour – 210 g
Unsalted butter/Margarine(room temp.) – 130-150 g
Sugar-85g, powdered
Chocolate chips- 50g (optional)
OR
Cardamom-2 pods,seeds powdered
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F . Line your cookie sheet with a parchment paper.
- Mix the first 3 ingredients together. You may or may not need all the butter/margarine. So start with 130g and then proceed.You basically need a dough which can be formed into smooth balls.
- Add the chocolate chips/cardamom powder and shape them into small balls.
- Place them on a baking sheet with 1″ gap between them.
- Bake for 18-20 mins or till the edges are lightly browned.
- Cool on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.
*This cookie has a good shelf life of almost a month!
Verdict: This is a very popular cookie in our household. It’s baked during birthdays, Christmas and for every other reason. It was a staple during my hostel days in college. A very simple recipe which everyone will love!
Jobin & I plus all the people with whom we have shared these cookies with…simply adore them!
Season’s Greetings!
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We’d like to thank Ria, from Ria’s Collection for joining us at the table! ~Chris Ann & Kristin
