As the US celebrates National Cookie Day on December 4, heres a look at some of the many quirky, desi versions found across the country
Thekua, a type of cookie from Bihar
From Monday morning blues to raging political debates, there's almost nothing that the evergreen combination, chai-biskut, can't take care of. Sure, the Western cookie, in delectable, Instagram-friendly flavours such as sea-salt, caramel and Nutella finds space on our shelves every now and then.
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Nankhatais by Geenel D'souza
But the desi variations - bought tinfuls from neighbourhood bakeries or home-baked with love - have moulded their own place in our hearts. Ahead of National Cookie Day in the US, kicked off by Matt Nader of the San Francisco-based Blue Chip Cookie Company in 1987, city-based bakers and home chefs tell us about the confection's Persian, Bihari, East Indian and Maharashtrian versions.
Chef Anees Khan
Persia se Powai via Surat
Nankhatai is polled as the go-to dip-in-your-chai cookie, chef Anees Khan, founder of Star Anise Patisserie, and Neil Bastani of the Girgaum-based Daryush Bakery claim. Recounting his childhood in Odisha, where mornings meant the smell of nankhatai being rolled out of his neighbour's wood-fired kitchen, Khan shares, "Now, it's available everywhere, but it's derived from a Persian word.
Naan means bread, and khatai, biscuit." In India, Khan says that nankhatai is believed to have originated in Surat, possibly through socio-cultural exchanges between traders. Both of them assert that the refined flour-semolina-ghee recipe has a long shelf life. "Now, people use health-friendly flours such as nachni. And as a hat-tip to the melt-in-your-mouth creation, we serve it with a cinnamon twist," adds Khan.
Dolly Singh
Irani bakery favourites
Other favourites that have been selling like hot cakes across bakeries and generations, are khari, cheese straw, Shrewsbury cookies and jeera butter or batasa, Bastani informs us. "Back in the day, in Mumbai, most bakeries used to be Iranian ones.
Khari biscuits by Daryush Bakery
So, most of these treats were traditionally Iranian confections," elaborates the owner of the 90-year-old bakery. Bastani, who also runs Parisserie which serves French-style bakes, claims that as compared to the typical Western cookies, nankhatais, kharis, batasas, etc, are far more pocket-friendly. "It's the stuff you can always fall back on to serve your guests in platefuls since customers pick these up in packets, as opposed to cookies, which you tend to buy in pieces," he shares.
Neil Bastani
Looking east
Another avatar of the cookie that's a hit in the eastern part of India, especially in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, is thekua. It's also city-based Bihari home chef Dolly Singh's first suggestion for us. "Made of maida, jaggery, ghee or butter and cardamom, it's offered as prasad during Chhath puja," Singh explains about the snack that was originally meant to be a bite of energy for farmers. She also points to gaja, a puff pastry topped with sugar, that's popular as a wedding gift among Biharis. "There's also the shakkarpada that you find in Maharashtrian homes, and laktho, a besan-jaggery treat," she adds.
Back in Mumbai, East Indians are usually busy putting their baking gloves on around this time to prepare endless batches of cookies in time for Christmas. East Indian home baker Geenel D'souza, who runs Tilpasse World and Bakehouse, shares that desi cookies in their household involve borose, umbar and melting moments, apart from nankhatais and shakkarpadas. "These are made across the year, and especially before Christmas as part of kuswal or kuswar that's shared between Catholics," D'souza says. The baker, whose paternal side is rooted in Kerala, leaves us with another suggestion that's her favourite - Kerala rose cookies. "They are not exactly cookies, but are rose-shaped deep-fried treats that are made at this time in special moulds called achus," she concludes.
Geenel's Kerala rose cookies
Ingredients
125 gm refined flour
40 gm rice flour
40 gm powdered £sugar
1 tbsp oil
1.25 cup milk
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Rose cookie mould or achu
Method
Make a dough with all the dry ingredients and the oil. Tip in the milk gradually while mixing; keep checking the consistency. Keep this batter aside for 20 minutes. Heat some more oil for deep-frying and once ready, take a standard rose cookie mould, dip it in the batter and then into the oil. Allow it to fry for a while. Keep the mould immersed in the oil until the cookie floats by itself. Fry it for a while until cooked and golden brown. Serve with a cup of chai or coffee.
Desi doughs
Daryush Bakery
At: 272, Opposite Central Plaza, Charni Road East.
Star Anise Patisserie
Log on to: staranise.in
Thekuas and Bihari treats by Dolly Singh
Call: 9819038599
Tilpasse Bake House by Geenel D'souza
Call: 9819793160
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