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What is Nankhatai? History Origin
Nankhatai is a shortbread cookie from India
According to The Hobson Jobson Dictionary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words
NUNCATIES, s. Rich cakes made by the Mahommedans in W. India chiefly imported into Bombay from Surat. [There is a Pers. word, nankhatai, �bread of Cathay or China,� with which this word has been connected. But Mr. Weir, Collector of Surat, writes that it is really nankhatai, Pers. nan, �bread,� and Mahr. khat, shat, �six� ; meaning a special kind of cake composed of six ingredients�wheat-flour, eggs, sugar, butter or ghee, leaven produced from toddy or grain, and almonds.]
Nuncatie is an Anglo-Indian corruption of the Hindi word Nankhatai. Nankhatai originated in Surat, a large port city in Gujarat.
Near the end of 16th century, Dutch explorers Van Houtman and Van Neck started to make trading posts in India for trade in spices. Surat was one of the occupied port city. Dutch set up a bakery in Surat to produce bread for their on consumption. When the Dutch left India, they handed over the bakery to one of the their trusted employees named Dotivala. He was to continue baking bread for the Dutch being left behind. The bakery became 'Dotivala Bakery'. The demand for bread kept declining as more and more Dutch left India.
Sura (sap from the Palm tree, or toddy) was used as yeast to ferment the dough. Hindus would not eat this bread because of Sura. The left over bread would become dry and crispy and sold to poor at discounted prices. Local masses liked the taste of this inexpensive dried out crispy bread, and ate it by dunking in Chai (Hot tea). Enterprising Dotivala changed the shape of the bread, and dried the slices in the oven. This oven dried bread is called 'Irani Biscuit'.
For financial survival Dotivala became a master of fusion cooking
- Modified the recipe of 'Dutch Butter Biscuit" and sold it as 'Farmasu' or 'Surti Batasa'
- Modified 'Puff pastry' to make Khari (Salty) biscuit, he spiked the top layer with Ajwain, sort of created layered version of Punjabi Mathri
- Combined the features of 'Dutch Butter Biscuit' and local sweet called "Dal' to create 'Nankhatai'.
Popularity of Mughalai Cuisine led Dotivala to wrap his products in a false cloak of Persian Cuisine by giving them Persian names. 'Irani Biscuit' is obvious example. In Persian, Nankhatai means 'bread of Cathay' or Chinese bread.
There is a very large Gujarati population in Bombay. The Nankhatai were transported to markets in Bombay where it became popular teatime item. It was eaten by dunking in the sweet hot tea latte (Garam Masala Chai).
Finally, Dotivala had created a business with a line of biscuits that suited the Indian taste. Dotivala did not have to rely on Dutch for its economic success.
Nankhatai had six ingredients: Flour, Ghee, Sugar, Palm toddy, Eggs, and Almonds. Some historians assert that the name Nankhatai reflects the recipe where Nan stands for bread, and Khat meaning six refers to the six ingredients.
Hindu population did not care for either the eggs or the palm toddy. The North Indians started to produce their own version of Nankhatai without any leavening at all. Without any leavening, the recipe started to resemble the European shortbread cookie. During Raj, the cookies were popular among the English, it reminded them of shortbread cookies. The British also imported their own shortbread cookies from England.
North Indian Nankhatai is almost same as 'Pecan Sandies' popular in United States. You can convert any Pecan Sandies recipe in to Nankhatai recipe as follows:
1. Substitute Pecans with crushed pistachios. Decorate with sliced almonds before baking.
2. Substitute Vanilla with cardamom powder
3. Make up for liquids in Vanilla and water with milk.
4. Make the cookie twice as large
5. Do not dredge cookie with powdered sugar after it has been just baked
How the recipes differ?
1. Traditional Nankhatai recipe uses Ghee and granulated sugar. The granulated sugar is powdered with mortar and pestle. The powdered sugar is beaten with Ghee to a cream
In United States, unsalted butter is mixed with powdered sugar. I prefer butter. It makes the cookie more flavorful and light.
2. Broken pecans are added to the cookie dough to make Pecan Sandies. Dotivala used sliced almonds. In North India, the choice of nuts has varied over time. Up to 1950s Chilgoza (Pine nuts) were popular till they became expensive and rare. Then came Chirongi. Chirongi is like a softer version of Pistachios. Most of the Indian stores in United States do not carry Chirongi. As an alternative crushed pistachios are used in the dough. Sliced Almonds are pressed on the top surface to decorate the cookie before baking. Some recipes use cashews.
3. Vanilla is a common flavoring to make Pecan Sandies. Ground cardamom with milk are used to make North Indian Nankhatai.
4. North Indian Nankhatai or the European shortbreads do not use any leavening agents. Nowadays, in both cases a small amount of baking powder and salt is added to give cookies a lighter delicate touch.
Recipes