Nankhatai (chickpea flour and semolina biscuits) with masala chai

Make this popular roadside tea stall treat at home.

Nankhatai (chickpea flour and semolina biscuits). Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• makes

  20

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• ½ cup chickpea flour
• ½ cup semolina
• 1 cup caster sugar
• ⅔ cup coconut oil
• 2 tsp cardamom powder
• Pinch of salt
• Chopped pistachio, dried rose petals, caraway or sesame seeds, to garnish

Masala chai

• 2.5 cm (1 in) piece ginger
• 2 tsp caster sugar (depending on how sweet you prefer your tea)
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 2 tbsp loose leaf assam (or strong black variety of tea)
• 2 cups almond milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
2. Combine dry ingredients. Massage in coconut oil. Make into 15-20 g balls.
3. Insert thumbprint for sweet garnishes (pistachio or rose petals) and back of fork marks for savoury garnishes (caraway or sesame seeds) and add garnishes as desired.
4. Bake for 17 minutes, turning tray once if needed.
5. For the masal chai, simmer sugar and spices in almond milk until fragrant.
6. Turn the heat off and add the looseleaf (or tea bag) tea and steep for 5 minutes with the lid on.
7. Enjoy with nankhatai.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.