Nankhatai (Indian Cookies)

Ingredients:

Preheat the oven 350°F (180°C) for at least 10 minutes.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and keep it ready.
Take dry ingredients (all purpose flour, besan, semolina, salt, cardamom powder and nutmeg) in a bowl. Whisk it until everything is incorporated well.
Add ghee (NOTE: Ghee should be at room temperature in semi-solid form.)
Start mixing it using a spatula. When it gets like a crumbly texture switch to your hands and start kneading. The warmth from your palm will melt the ghee slightly and it helps to form the dough. The dough should be smooth (not loose or sticky).
Now take a tablespoon size of dough, start rolling and make a smooth, crack-free ball.
Make an indentation in the center with the help of your finger.
Place the cookies few inches apart on the prepared baking tray.
Add sliced almonds and pistachios in the center.
Bake into the preheated oven for 17-18 minutes.
Let the cookies cool down in the pan itself for 10 minutes. Don’t touch them, they might get break or fall apart. Then transfer them on the cooling rack using a spatula and let nankhatai cool down completely.

Fat amount: Do not reduce the amount of ghee. The fat vs flour ratio has to be right to achieve a flaky texture.
Fat consistency: Ghee has to be at room temperature in semi-solid form (check ingredient pic of the reference.) If it’s in the solid form then you won’t be able to knead the dough. If it’s melted then you’ll end up with the loose, sticky dough.
Flour: You can use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. But the texture will be slightly dense.
The dough became loose and sticky: This may happen if you are living in a hot climate and ghee is melted while kneading the dough. If so, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. So ghee will solidify slightly and it won’t be soft anymore.
Nankhatai crumbled up: You have touched them too soon. Let them cool completely before touching or lifting by hand. As they come out from the oven, they are still soft and fragile. Let it cool down in the pan itself without disturbing for 10 minutes. They will firm up during this cooling time. Then using a spatula transfer them to the cooling rack and let them cool down completely.