Nankhatai


Nankhatai ਨਾਨ ਖਟਾਈ / are shortbread biscuits originating in the Indian subcontinent, popular in Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

Etymology

The word nankhatai is derived from the Classical Persian wikt:نان خطائی,, composed of نان meaning ‘bread’ and خطائی meaning ‘Cathayan’. The word has been borrowed into the Burmese language as nankahtaing, in the Tamil language as naanahatha, and in the Sinhala language as ghanakatha.
In Afghanistan and northeastern Iran, these biscuits are called کلچهٔ خطائی kulcha-i khaṭāʾī in Persian.
It is also a mispronunciation of نانِ کوتاہ naan-e-koṭahshortbread where نان naan means Bread, and کوتاہ koṭah means short. So it's a bread which is taken as a snack for settling the 'false' hunger. To support this claim, کوتاہی koṭahi in Urdu means mistake – shortcoming. کوتاہ نظرکوتاہ بین koṭah–nazar in Urdu /koṭah–been in Persian means shortsighted, someone who doesn't anticipate complex or far fetched outcomes. So Nan-e-Kotahi became Nan-e-Khatai or simply Nan-Khatai as it is easier to say Khatai, than Kothai.
Nankhatai was also spelt nuncatie in English.

History

Nankhatai is believed to have originated in India in the 16th century, when Dutch and Indians were the important spice traders. The main ingredients in nankhatai are refined flour, chickpea flour and semolina. Some other recipes do not use chickpea flour.