Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Whole Wheat Nankhatai (Eggless whole wheat cookies) and some miscellaneous photos


Hello dear readers :) (I hope I have few left at least ??? .....) I have been so inconsistent with my postings and I owe you readers an apology for that, ....that being said, I would be doing yet another post after this and then planning to take a break the rest of the year due to personal reasons. I would resume blogging starting 2012. Since this blog has been nothing less than a 'baby' to me :) , I will never stop blogging for sure :) though at present things are a bit unsettled until next year.

Coming back to this post, I have been trying my hand at 'Nankhatai' after a long time after my last attempt to make these. Though last time gave results, it wasn't something I would brag about as it didn't actually get the desired shape I wanted  (I can be a perfectionist sometimes, especially when it comes to cooking ;-)) ....hence keeping the 'shape' factor of the nankhatai's in mind I decided to try my hand again, but this time using a recipe from 'Showmethecurry'' , a website whose recipes have never failed in my kitchen whenever I tried. I made a slight modification though, as I used Whole Wheat Flour (Golden Temple Durum Whole wheat flour brand) instead of All purpose flour (or maida) as they have mentioned. The results was so delightfully surprising, that I could not believe I too could bake a cookie which would not fall flat. They had the most perfect dome shape among the cooking I ever baked in my kitchen (I used to fret and feel disappointed whenever my cookies used to fall flat, in fact I had given up on ever baking a cookie that would hold its shape). So you can imagine how excited I was /is while typing this.


Here is the recipe:

  • Whole Wheat Flour (I used Golden Temple brand Durum Whole Wheat Flour) – 1 cup
  • Unsalted Butter – 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz) at room temperature (I used salted butter, hence I skipped the additional salt which is asked for in the recipe)
  • Powdered Sugar – 1/2 cup (Use only powdered sugar that you get from stores (also known as Icing sugar/Confectioners sugar) as it has some cornstarch in it which affects the texture of the nankhatai (tip given at the above website))(*Do not manually powder the sugar you have at home and use instead of this)
  • Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Baking Powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Salt – 1/8 tsp (If using salted butter, skip the salt )

Here is how I made it:
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degrees C. Sift the Whole Wheat flour along with Baking powder in a bowl.
  • In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar in small quantities along with butter until it is smooth, light, and creamy
  • Then add Nutmeg and Cardamom powder, followed by the sifted flour little by little until a smooth dough is formed
  • Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and let it rest for 15-20 minutes
  • Knead dough once again and divide into 12 equal parts 
  • Roll each portion into smooth balls taking care there is no crack at all and place these in a baking sheet lined with wax/parchment paper which has been lightly floured and greased
  • Leave space between cookies to allow room to expand (all cookies expand a little at least)
  • Bake on middle rack for 22-25 minutes while keeping an eye on the color of the cookies as they should brown just a tad on the bottom corners.
  • Remove the cookies from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack
  • Let the cookies cool completely before you eat them as they might seem soft when they are still warm.
  • Store in an air tight container at room temperature


Here are some photos I took recently when I made one  of the most loved Konkani delicacy about which I have previously posted on this blog, but just didn't have good pictures, yes friends its none other than 'Pathrodo' and this time I have the pictures where I made the Pathrodo with the traditional Pathra leaves (Colocasia leaves) and not the Collard green leaves which I usually use when I don't have Pathra leaves. Enjoy this photo filled post :)

 Pathra leaves from my garden and also from a dear friend/neighbour . The pic on the right shows two leaves, one with veins intact and the other with veins  removed from the lighter color side of the leaf (the wrong side of the leaf). The veins from all the leaves must be removed at this point.
 The leaves are soaked in water mixed with turmeric and tamarind solution to take away the itchiness which the leaves are notoriously famous for.
The pic on the right is the batter for coating the leaves. Its a ground batter of White Rice (Idli rice) + Coconut + Tamarind pulp + Turmeric + Salt + Asafoetida (Hing) + Jeera +Red Chilly
 I used a cut grocery plastic cover to cover my working area while I spread the batter on the leaves as this process would otherwise make the working area messy and this trick avoids a mess and is eas to clean up ;-)
 How the leaves are arranged: two leaves arranged as shown with removed vein side up overlapping a bit on the edges.
 The batter is spread generously on this side. Then a single leaf is kept on the joint of these two leaves. The batter is spread on this leaf (the pic of applying batter is not shown)
pathrodo) I didn't have that many....hence had to satisfy with the leaves I had.

 After all leaves are stacked and battered , fold the edges lengthwise as shown on the right pic.



 Batter the folded edges.

 Keeping the battered edges intact fold the stack from bottom just like you  would fold a burrito. And apply the batter to all the non-battered areas you see while the folding takes place.Requires some patience to get a good looking loaf of leaves :))
 The battered loaf of leaves looks like this : pic on right and below.

Apply batter on the bottom and edges of the loaf at the end too so that no area is left without a generous coating of the batter. The batter is important taste wise as well as to prevent any itchiness after the Pathrodo is cooked.
 Boil water in a steamer.
 Place the loaf in the steamer.

 Cook for 45 minutes. By then the whole house was having the aroma of Pathrodo :)
 Cooked Pathrodo
 Check whether the insides are properly cooked or whether the batter is still uncooked? Cook further if necessary.
 Slice and serve with coconut oil for best taste.
 mmmmm, yummmm :) cant wait to make again....that is when I have the leaves during summer :-)


Luv,

Roopa











25 comments:

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious soft nankatai looks wonderful

Unknown said...

nice to ur post Roopa....how r u doing?hope everything is going good!
the nankatais look super! i need to try this soon too!
Smitha

Cham said...

Oh Roopa How r u Gal? Resuming in 2012?
Pathrodo step by step is awesome. Ur nankathai came out well!
Take care...

Unknown said...

whole wheat nankatais! def need to try it! :o)

Divya Kudua said...

Hey Roopa,pleasantly surprised to see a post pop out of your blog!!I have bookmarked Hetal and Anuja's recipe for Nankhatai too..yours has come out so well!!You have me drooling at the Pathrodo pics..yummmm!!

Anonymous said...

woww awesome....got to try this recipe.....do check out my recipes too at http://onlyfishrecipes.blogspot.com/ and let me know your valuable comments !

notyet100 said...

cookies look delicious,..and pathrode looks yummy too

Priya Suresh said...

Ur nankhatais came out soo prefect, prathrodo looks super delicious..

Unknown said...

Wow I am just feeling very glad that I still have some readers left :) Thank you so much for all the lovely comments :)

@Torview, notyet100, Priya, Pooji thank you thank you :)
@Smitha :) I am doing well, I am in a baking mode now , hence cudnt resist making these :)

@Cham, how r u?? so nice to see your comment :) , I am doing well, things are kinda unsettled these days, hence thought that it would not be fair if I just keep disappearing from blogging world without letting my readers know, hence tis post :) u take care too :)

@onlyfishrecipes wow just got to visit your blog (thank u for posting a comment here, it helped me discover urs :) .....you have amazing recipes and photos there, have me drooling at all the recipes....coz fish is my fav and urs is dedicated to just that...good job !

@Divya, thanks divs :) ....I know, it must have come as a surpise for most of my readers :)) ....feeling guilty that iam this unpredictable blogger hehe :D, ...how have u been?

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious delights

Tina said...

delicious....

swapna said...

Delicious and yummy nankattai....

Umm Mymoonah said...

Me too a big fan of Show me the curry, your nankhatai's looks so perfect and yummy. And your collard green leaves recipe, that is yumm.
Your pictures are really gorgeous, following you for your yummy recipes with beautiful pictures :)

Suman Singh said...

Bumped in here for the first time..you have a lovely space with some great recipes..Glad to follow you!
Nankhatai looks perfect!

Preety said...

whole wheat nankhatai sounds and looks too delicious

Sushma Mallya said...

Nankatai has come out so perfectly baked....and Patra looks delicious:)

Shruti said...

great pictorial presentation !! happy cooking !! do check out my food blog :)

Unknown said...

roopa, I am drooling over your pics!!! Deadly deliciious dear :)

Unknown said...

Same procedure my mom used yehhh... but she never served those in that way to us. I like to have like it. After a perfect boil she use them with a grevy and with perfect combo make delicious dish.
Indian Recipe Book

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Hy Roopa,
first time visiting your space..sure you have a lovely space with innovative recipe collection ...great clicks..
Am your happy follower now..:)
do stop by mine sometime..
Tasty Appetite

Purabi Naha said...

Hi, loved your blog and this recipe, in particular. You have a good collection of recipes. Shall visit here again very soon. Do visit my blog when your time permits.
purabi naha
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I love indian dishes very much.I really like the way you narrated the complete cooking process.I was searching for some blogs based on cooking indian cookies.All the ingredients are easy to obtain.Great work.

Thanks
_______
Roger
Cefzil

Rinku Naveen said...

Delicious pathrodos!!

Unknown said...

Nice to your post doing good job and hope everything is going good!
the Nantucket look super! i need to try this soon too!

kitchenaid artisan blender

Kavi said...

I was looking around for some simple nankhatai recipes and yours look the easiest! And I love the texture of these biscuits! They look so good! :)

-
Kavi (Edible Entertainment)

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