Royal Baking Powder Challenge – Naan Khatai

Food is an integral part of every culture and heritage and it is something that brings family and friends together.In South Africa food is an important part of our heritage.So when Royal Baking Powder asked to take part in a Recipe Swap I was rather excited and nervous as I am not a baker but love cooking and not forgetting that Rizwana from  RSRLoves is an amazing culinary goddess.So when her recipe popped into my inbox it made me say “aww” and kinda gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.As her story was something I could relate to and was apart of my family.So read up what my Royal Baking Powder challenge was.

This recipe pays homage to our granny, who’s delightful food we were brought up eating. Our granny is known for many things but her Naan Kathai is part of her DNA. Naan kathai is a traditional Indian biscuit that is made from flour, taystee wheat and spices. There are many variations to this biscuit but grannies are the best. Grannies naan kathais are flattened, ridged and has a little bit of crunch on the inside and slightly powdery too. The signature shape comes from the hardness of the dough and the indenting of the biscuit.

Recipe
Naan Kathai by RSR

Ingredients
• 160g castor sugar
• 270g ghee
• 2 egg yolks
• 30g taystee wheat
• 135g condense milk
• 2 tsp ROYAL BAKING POWDER
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 370g flour
• almonds for decorating (whole or halved)

Method
1. combine the ghee, sugar, egg yolks and condense milk with a beater until smooth.
2. Then combine the dry ingredients and beat until all is well combined
3. The dough needs to be semi-hard. So it needs to be soft enough to be pliable and hard enough so that the cracks form
4. Take 20g of dough and roll into a ball then using the thumb, press down the center of the ball until it forms a dent in the center and cracks along the edges. If your dough doesn’t crack, your dough isn’t hard enough, add flour.
5. Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray with at least 4-5cm space between each one, to allow for the biscuits to spread.
6. Dip the almonds in a little egg white and stick them to the center of the biscuit where the dent is.
7. Bake the biscuits on the middle rack of your oven on 175°C for 15- 20 minutes. Ensure that they bake an even golden brown.

The pressure points of this recipe are as follows
1. The dough needs to be the right hardness to allow for the cracks to form, if your dough is too soft you wont get the signature cracks.
2. but it shouldn’t be too hard or they wont flatten out. You don’t want big rounds you want a slightly flatter biscuit.
3. The oven temperature shouldn’t be too hot or the biscuits wont bake evenly. They need to be a gorgeous golden brown.

With such a detailed recipe and so many memories I was defo keen to start baking.Every Indian Mother in South Africa has a hardcover notebook crammed with hand written recipes ,recipe cuttings and stained from years of cooking from this trusty culinary bible.Most of the recipes are collected from friends and family and all are tried and tested.I bet if you your Mum if she has a book like this the chances are more than likely she has.Growing up we could not afford the luxuries of store bought biscuits and cakes so homemade was tried,tested and perfected according to your families tastes.

Naan Khatai can best be described as a Spiced Indian Shortbread.And every family has their own special recipe and in my family we tend to make this eggless version of Naan Khatai but thing always remains the same and that is using Royal Baking Powder.I have very found childhood memories of eating and making these biscuits and trying to steal the almonds without Mum seeing me.My mother would always make these biscuits for special occasions like Diwaii and for our fast of Purtassi as this recipe is eggless.As our fast started the other day I decided to surprise my mum with a batch of these biscuits using her recipe.I was pretty impressed with the results and so was Mum.

Naan Khatai Recipe:
Ingredients:
250ml ghee or butter
250ml oil
375ml sugar
5ml nutmeg powder
3 teaspoons semolina
1teaspoon bicarbonate soda
pinch of salt
3 Tablespoon almond powder
1 1/2 Tablespoon Royal Baking Powder
5 cups flour (250ml ×5)
100g almonds
1 teaspoon elachi powder
Method : Preheat Oven (140 degrees)
1.Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
2.Add oil and mix well.
3.Add the semolina, bicarb, baking powder, spices and almond powder.
4.Add flour to make a soft dough.
5.Make into small even sized balls, press an almond into the centre
6. Place onto a greased baking tray and put into the oven for approximately 20min.
7.The colour must be light cream.
8. Store in an airtight container.
9.Best served with a hot cup of tea.

I have collaborated with Royal Baking Powder for this recipe swap and they have given me a Hamper of goodies for one of my lucky readers.The hamper consists of the Royal Baking Powder recipe journal, product and a R700 Yuppiechef voucher.

To win :

1.Comment on my Facebook Page with your family favourite baked goodies using Royal Baking Powder SpiceGoddess Blog.

2.Tag a friend.

3.Share the post.

4.Giveway is for South African residents only.

5.Closes on 26th September 2019.

Good Luck !

Be Inspired !