Nan Khatai

Probably nan khatai are the first cookies I ever baked in my kitchen and so, they are special to me. Over the years I have tried various versions, liking them all even without realizing they had Parsi connection. This time around I tried this semolina-almond version which yield crispy, crumbly delicious nan khatai that are quite addictive. For the uninitiated, nan khatai are shortbread biscuits that have been popular in the Indian sub continent for centuries. They are believed to be originated in Surat, a city in western India during 16th century. The word nan khatai is said to have derived from a Persian word 'naan' meaning bread and an Afghani word 'khatai' meaning biscuit.
 
According to the ebook Eat, Pray and Live, some of the Parsi cooks who worked for the Dutch in Surat had learnt to bake soft bread by fermenting the dough with toddy, which is supposedly the beginning of the legacy of Parsi bakeries in Surat. Parsis were inspired by the eggless Scottish shortbread, to create nan khatai, one of Surat's famous confections.The Surat bakers realized that the recipe was suitable for Gujarati vegetarians who did not eat eggs and adapted to suit the local populace by adding nuts and cardamom. Here is another interesting read about how nan khatai came to existence.

Ingredients: (Yield 18 - 20 cookies)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina (I replaced half of it with ground almonds.)
2 tbsp. ground almonds (Optional)
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
A pinch of baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp. slivered almonds for garnish

Method:
* Sift together flour, semolina, cardamom and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add ground almonds to the same bowl if using and mix to combine,
* Cream butter and sugar in another bowl until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in small increments and blend until a dough is formed. If for any reason, the dough turns out hard / dry, moisten it with little milk. (I didn't need any milk.)
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C. Grease or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
* Divide the cookie dough into 18 - 20 portions and roll each portion into a smooth ball. Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand and decorate with almond slivers. Gently press the almond pieces so that they stick to the cookie.
* Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them an inch apart since they expand while baking.
* Place them in the preheated oven and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until they turn light golden in color. (I baked them for about 20 minutes, turned off the oven and left them in the oven for another 6 minutes or so.)
* Let them cool on a wire rack and store them in an airtight container.


Comments

Mtedza ~ Malawi Peanut Cookies

 
African donuts and these peanut cookies were on my shortlisted 'dessert' recipes to try for the third day of this week's marathon. I was reluctant to try these cookies initially since I was fixated on trying the former. However the idea of frying did not appeal when the time came to try them and I decided to go with a small batch of mtedza. A decision I regretted as soon as I got to have a bite of these yummy, buttery rich cookies. These are like those delightful, crumbly wedding cookies or the moon cookies with an additional surprise of peanuts embedded in them. Not little but loads that give a lovely crunch to these super yummy cookies. Give them a try. You would be delighted, I promise. 

These peanut cookies or groundnut cookies seems to come from the African nation of Malawi and are called mtedza. The online recipes circulating over the years for these cookies seem to be one and the same. I am not sure if the cookies are prepared traditionally this way considering that Malawi is a poor nation and the probability of people owning ovens is probably low. However the cookies taste awesome and are are a beginner level of recipe.

Ingredients: (Yield 8 - 10 cookies)
4 - 6 tbsp toasted and skinned peanuts
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tbsp. sugar
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flour
Powdered sugar for dusting
Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
* Roughly chop the peanuts into small pieces or pulse in a food processor.
* Cream butter and sugar together. Add the remaining ingredients to form a crumbly dough.
* Make small balls out of the mixture and place the on a cookie sheet. (The cookies don't expand while baking. Shape them as big or small you would prefer.)
* Bake them for 20 minutes or until they turn light brown.
* Once done, roll them immediately in powdered sugar.


This goes to blogging marathon #93 with the theme of recipes from countries that start with the same alphabet, "Pick one alphabet - 3 countries". My choice of alphabet this week is 'M' and today's post is from Malawi. Check out the page here to read what other marathoners are cooking.

Comments

Chokladbollar - No Bake Swedish Chocolate Balls

These yummy coconut coated oat - chocolate balls are from Sweden and are quite kid friendly. They are very easy to prepare and can be made in no time. The liquid traditionally used to bind these balls is coffee though any other mentioned in the list below can be used if serving kids.

Ingredients: (Yield 6 balls)
2.5 to 3 tbsp. butter, softened but not melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp. liquid (It can be coffee, water, cream, milk, chocolate, orange juice or any other liquid of your choice.)
Shredded coconut

 Method:
* Add all ingredients except coconut to a bowl and mix until well combined.
* Divide the mixture into 6 or 7 portions and roll each into a ball and keep them aside.
* Now roll the balls in shredded coconut and refrigerate them until firm. Or freeze them if in a hurry.


This goes to Blogging marathon #86, under the theme 'All that come round are laddus?'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

Comments

Brown Sugar Butter Syrup & Gulkand / Rose Petal Jam Sauce

Brown sugar butter syrup is a quick and easy preparation. It is a yummy syrup to use in lieu of maple syrup over pancakes / waffles. For those wondering where the pictures of that syrup are, I haven't posted them. :) I was not happy with the quality of the syrup pictures I took and so, they are going to get updated the next time I make the syrup.

Ingredients for brown sugar - butter syrup:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1/8 tsp. vanilla or maple extract (optional)

Method:

* Add sugar and water to a sauce pan on medium heat, Bring it to a boil, stirring until the sugar melts. 

* Let the mixture continue to boil for about five minutes and add butter. Stir until the butter melts and add any extract if using. Turn off the stove.

* Serve warm over pancakes / waffles. Refrigerate any leftover syrup and reheat before serving.

 
I used some of the leftover syrup to prepare an interesting sauce based on gulkand that turned out to be delicious. Even my daughter who detests gulkand could not stop eating it. Basically a jam sauce can be prepared by adding a little quantity of water and sugar, if needed to the jam and cooked until a desired quantity is reached. The gulkand sauce also can be prepared this way, only if you prefer the pronounced flavor of gulkand in the sauce. Somehow I didn't and tried the sauce again with some of the left over brown sugar butter syrup I had and that's what caught my fancy. 

Ingredients for gulkand syrup:

1/4 cup syrup from above 

1/4 cup gulkand / rose petal jam

2 tbsp. water 

Method:

* Add the ingredients to a small sauce pan and cook on medium flame, stirring. If the mixture appears too thick, add a tbsp. or more water and cook until the desired consistency is reached. Or add the ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave in 30 seconds / minute intervals until desired consistency is reached. Please note that this sauce thickens after cooling because of the butter used.
 
This post goes to Blogging marathon #78 under the theme "Toppings for Pancakes / Ice creams". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

Comment 

Chocolate Chip - Oatmeal Cookies (Version 2)

KAF is my to go website for baking recipes since most of their recipes are foolproof and the user reviews gives me an idea how a recipe is going to turn out and in case if it needs any tweaks or twists. These chocolate chip - oatmeal cookies come from there and are supposedly their recipe of the year for 2015. An apt choice I would say. This recipe yields addictive cookies with the right amount of chewiness and crispiness. My daughter loves chocolate chip cookies and I had bookmarked them earlier for her. I tried a small batch yesterday making it an eggless version and got a big happy thumbs up from her. The only regret I had was that I should have made more cookies as mine were gone in a day. They are just subtly soft at the center and have a crispy exterior if baked for the mentioned time. If one prefers crispy cookies, they must be left in the oven few minutes more after turning off the oven. Cookies can be made bigger or smaller than the size mentioned in the recipe below and the serving size would differ. I used a tbsp. sized scoop and got sixteen, 2.5" sized cookies. 

Ingredients: (Yield 16 cookies)
1.5 tsp. flax meal or a substitute for half an egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
* Combine flax meal and 1.5 tbsp. water in a small bowl and set it aside for about 4 -5 minutes.
* Whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
* Preheat the oven to 325 deg F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it.
* Beat butter and sugars together until smooth. Next add the flax egg and vanilla and beat well once again. Add the flour mixture into the butter bowl and mix until thoroughly incorporated, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips.
* Scoop out tbsp. sized portions of dough onto the cooking sheet, leaving about 1.5 to 2 inches between cookies.
* Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, until they are light golden brown, with slightly darker edges. They continue to bake as they cool on the pan and so it's ok if they look slightly shiny in the middle. Remove the cookies from the oven, and as soon as they're set enough to handle, transfer them to racks to cool.
( If baked for the mentioned time, they wouldn't be crispy when they come out of the oven. When they cool down, they crisp around the edges while remaining softer at the center. I baked them for 15 minutes and turned off the oven. I left half of the cookies in the oven itself for few minutes more and those cookies had turned out perfectly crispy.) 

These cookies are going to be a part of
1. Blogging Marathon #52.
2. Srivalli's 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Sandhya this month with the theme "Snacking all the Way".

Comments

Thursday Teatime ~ Saffron Cookies

These saffron cookies were the first ones that got baked by me for this marathon. I came across these lovely cookies when looking for some simple ones with Indian flavors. These are made with the basic ingredients found in any Indian pantry and gets done in a short time. I made a small batch of these as I had baked other cookies too.

Ingredients: (Yield 6 to 7 cookies)
1 tbsp. warm milk
A pinch of saffron strands
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. softened butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
Slivered almonds to garnish

Method:
* Crush the saffron strands and soak them in milk for a couple of  minutes.
* Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C. 
* Beat sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the saffron milk and mix.
* Next add flour and cardamom to the bowl and combine to form a soft dough.
* Divide the mixture into 6 - 7 balls and gently flatten them between your palms.
 
* Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. Garnish with slivered almonds.
* Bake them for about 15 - 20 minutes. 
(I baked for about 17 minutes. They firm up once they cool down and so bake accordingly. No need to bake until they turn crispy in the oven.)
* Remove them from oven when done and let cool. Store them in airtight container.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

Comments

An InLinkz Link-up

Fun Friday ~ Russian Rose Bread / Cinnamon Sugar Braided Bread

I had planned early on to try a braided bread for this marathon and was looking for one which my kids would love to try. I came across a subtly sweet, cinnamon flavored one here which was part of a bread baking challenge. The several versions I checked ended up being part of the same challenge and so only the fillings changed according to one's preferences but the bread dough and the recipe remained the same. I wonder if this recipe has any Russian origins at all since I could not find anything online related to 'Russia' and 'Rose bread'. However it seems that another version of sweet cinnamon braided bread is equally popular in another East European nation, Estonia and it goes by the name 'Kringle'.

My kids love 'cinnamon'y bakes and so naturally they enjoyed it. They thought this rose bread was perfect though I felt it could have been a little more sweeter. I guess it is supposed to be that way since it is a bread and not a cake and is served along with coffee / tea. The original recipe had some sugar bits sprinkled on the top but I left them out. Sweetoholics probably may drizzle some chocolate / sugar icing on it if they prefer a sweeter bread. And people who are not sweetoholics may go with a savory filling.

I accidentally prepared a cup of sugar filling and by the time I noticed it, my daughter had sprinkled about 3/4th of it but I think even if I had used up that whole cup of sugar it would not have ruined the bread. And probably that's why my bread doesn't look dark as cinnamon-sugar ratio became different. I removed the bread from the oven as soon as it attained a golden hue and was done. 
My daughter was all along with me while shaping the bread and left at the last moment when I was coiling it and so she was surprised to see a wreath shaped bread coming out of the oven. Even my son was intrigued as how I arrived at that shape and I had to show him the pictures. When you cut a slice of the bread, all you see is layers attached to each other with cinnamon sugar filling between instead of a bread slice . 

 
Ingredients for the dough:
1 & 3/4 tsp. dry active yeast
1 & 1/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp flax meal (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Ingredients for the filling:
1/3 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used about 3/4 cup.)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preparation of the dough:
* Add sugar and yeast to warm water and let it sit for few minutes, until it foams and rises.
* Combine flour, flax meal and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture, oil and vinegar to the bowl and knead the mixture until it results in a non sticky, elastic dough. Feel free to add small amounts of extra water / flour if needed, to achieve this consistency.
* Place the dough ball in a greased bowl and turn it to coat uniformly with oil. Cover and leave it to rise in a warm place until it almost doubles. This should take around 1 - 2 hours depending upon the weather.

Shaping the bread:
* Lightly flour the work surface and place the dough ball on it. Using your palms, gently flatten it into a rectangle. Using a rolling pin, roll it as thin as you can into a rectangle without making it translucent or without tearing it. I rolled mine into 12 by 24 inched one.

* Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. 
* Brush the softened butter all over the surface of the rectangle, leaving about 1/4 inch space around the edges. Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture uniformly over the spread butter.

* Gently roll the dough rectangle into a tight log / roulade, starting from one of the longer edges.

* Cut (and not saw) the roll lengthwise into two equal parts using a sharp knife. (Make sure that your knife is in the middle so that you end up with two equal parts. If cut down along the seam, you will have a neater wreath. I put the log, seam side up and cut along the seam.)

* Slowly turn the two halves facing outwards, so that layers show up. (Basically the layers should be facing upwards towards you or in other words you should be able to see the layers. The layers should not face downwards.)
* Place them crossing each other to form a "X" shape, with the open layers facing up. Pinch the ends together at the upper side and continue to cross them to form a rope.

* This is your 2 strand rope shape. If for any reason, some of the open roulade layers are facing sideways or downwards, gently and carefully turn them to face upwards. Gently pinch the ends to seal.

* Grease a 10 inch spring form cake pan and remove the bottom. Gently slide the spring form pan bottom under about half of the dough rope. If you have a thinner end, start from that side of the rope. Keeping that point as the center of the wreath, slowly form a coil. The open layers of the roulade should be still facing up.

* Neatly tuck in the other end under the wreath.

*  Now attach the side frame of the spring form pan to the bottom side (with the bread wreath on it.)
(Use a 10 inch round cake pan if you don't own a spring from cake pan. Gently and very carefully lift the shaped bread so that it's shape is not affected and place it in the greased pan.)

* Cover and let it rise in a warm place until the braided wreath fills about 3/4th of the pan. (I lined the pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup. The second rise may take up around 30 minutes or so. )

* If using decorative sugar bits, sprinkle over the top of the wreath now.
* Place the wreath in a preheated oven at 200 deg C / 400 deg F and bake for 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180 deg C / 350 deg F and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes or until brown and done.
* Cool the bread on a wire rack. Slice and serve along with tea / coffee.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51

Comments

An InLinkz Link-up

Thursday Teatime ~ Cumin Cookies

I baked around half a dozen variety of cookies for this marathon without any prior planning as such and since the other adult at home is used to having cookies along with his evening tea, a couple of them were chosen to be on the 'not sweet' side. These cumin flavored cookies adapted from here is one of those. I cut down the butter and sugar by half from the original recipe and the resulting cookies were crispy and flaky like the khara biscuits and we enjoyed them as a evening snack.

Ingredients I used: (Yield 15 cookies)
4 tbsp. butter  + 1 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. toasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. salt 
3 tbsp. milk

Method:
* Cream together butter and sugar. (One can use the hand mixer since the quantities are less to use a stand mixer.) Add flour, salt and cumin seeds to the butter - sugar mixture and mix until the dough is formed. Use the oil and milk if the dough is not coming together. (I added oil and milk for binding in place of butter, the original recipe had.)
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
 
 * Shape the mixture to a disc and roll it into 1/4 inch thickness. Cut them into desired cookie shapes.
 * Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 30 - 35 minutes.
 * Cool them on a wire rack and store them in airtight container.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

Comments

An InLinkz Link-up

Fun Friday ~ Shortcrust Biscuits

This experiment turned a super hit and the preparation, a fun filled one for my daughter and so I thought of presenting it though I had planned something else for today. My daughter seems to have become a fan of Master Chef India show even though she doesn't pay an iota of attention to what the participants are cooking. She watches it so religiously that she doesn't miss even the weekend cooking where the winning dish of the week is presented. Her enthusiasm has rubbed on me too and this recipe is a result of one of those watching sessions.

I took the basic version of the original recipe and created these chocolate - sprinkles biscuits. It didn't use nuts or the chocolate glaze. The girl who made them called it shortcrust fingers though the dough is not made in the traditional shortcrust style. I am sticking with her title though I am calling them biscuits as I have made them into chubby rectangles. I decided to try the recipe on the spur of the moment going by the judge's praises for the dish but in the haste, I conveniently forgot that it was one of the elements of a three part dish. The slip proved to be a blunder when my family after the taste test started complaining that they were utterly bland. The other two elements in the original dish must have complimented these shortcrust fingers with their sweetness and probably why there was basically no sugar in the recipe. I hadn't paid any attention to the other parts of the dish to recreate and the experiment seemed flop when the cookies remained in the jar untouched for two days.
 
These cookies were all buttery and flaky though sweetness was missing. To salvage the situation, I thought of serving them as strawberry shortcakes and then realized that I had to stuff myself with all those calories and none at home would be interested. Next came the idea of dipping them in chocolate sauce and at the last moment I changed the idea to the chocolate drizzle and sprinkles since the latter would add sweetness and the former adds the temptation factor. My prediction proved right and my daughter polished them off as quickly as she could saying that they looked cute and tasted really good. She is waiting for another batch to be baked. :)

Servings: 18
Ingredients:
150 gm / 1 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour / wheat flour
90 gm butter (about 6.3 tbsp)
1 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. caster sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
Coarsely chopped mixed nuts (optional. the original recipe didn't use any.)
2 - 3 tbsp. chocolate chips / chocolate chunks
Sprinkles as needed
 
Method:
* Preheat the oven at 210 deg C / 400 deg F.
* Heat butter, oil, sugar and 3 tbsp. water together in a sauce pan on stove top or in a glass bowl in microwave. Add flour and stir just until combined. Turn off the stove. 
* Add orange zest to the mixture and if desired, mixed nuts can also be added at this point. 
* Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead just until the dough is formed.
* Roll the dough into about 1/2 cm thickness. Sprinkle nuts if using and gently roll once so that nuts stick to the dough. (I sprinkled nuts only on few.)  
 
* Cut into rectangles or in any shapes you like. Prick with a fork all over the biscuits. (The original recipe made bar kind of biscuits. )
* Bake for about 10 - 15 minutes and remove them from oven.
* Melt the chocolate in a microwave when the cookies are cool. Drizzle melted chocolate over the biscuits and spread the sprinkles immediately over the chocolate to set.

Check here to learn what other marathoners are cooking during this blogging marathon.

Comments