A couple of years ago my childhood friend Veda shared her recipe for the nankhatai, a lovely Indian sweet biscuit that is usually prepared during the festive season. In India we use the term 'biscuit' for cookies and these little melt-in-your-mouth wonders are pretty much like shortbread cookies but slightly differ in taste and texture owing to the use of ghee (clarified butter) instead of butter. During my growing up years the nankhatai was available at most bakeries in Mangalore and was prepared in homes especially during Deepavali and Christmas. Although the nankhatai is not a traditional item on the Kuswar (a Mangalorean collection of Christmas sweets & savouries) platter it is served in many homes along with other non traditional sweets such as coconut burfi and marzipan etc. While across India they are called as the 'nankhatai', in Mangalore they are also known as the Narayan Katar (in bakeries and such) and Nan Cuts (mostly by Catholics who make it during Christmas)
Ok, so now coming back to the nankhatai, when I made these a few days ago I was wondering why I sat on the recipe for two whole years before trying it out. Since Veda and I are chaddi-buddies who cannot start the day without chatting with each other on Whatsapp, sharing recipes on a daily basis is a natural occurrence, pretty much like the rising and setting of the sun.
