Whole wheat Nan khatai or Benne biscuit

I had in tried to make Nan Khatai or Benne Biscuit many times in the past, but something was always wrong.    

When I was offered beautiful Benne biscuit by  Sudha teacher and her sister, I couldn't control myself. I asked ''how do you make them? I tried many times but failed''. Pat came the reply from the sister- sugar, maida(all purpose flour), ghee..... 

I noted the recipe and promised to bring them a sample of a 'healthier' version soon. Here I present before you healthier version of Nan Khatai- made using sucanat/Jaggery and wholewheat flour. Unfortunately the huge amount of ghee is still a must :)

(I simultaneously made a batch of wholewheat- Sucanat and wholewheat- jaggary.)

You will need

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups of Sucanat or jaggary

Up to1.5cups ghee (approximate)

Baking soda about 1/8th to 1/4 tsp

Seeds of one vanilla pod

1-2 cardamom powdered.

Method

Measure out all the ingredients.

Powder Sucanat/ jaggary in a blender(tried my best but was still coarse).

Take a clean, dry bowl add 3/4th quantity of melted ghee, jaggary/sucanat, vanilla, cardamom and  mix well. 

Mixture with sucanat

Mixture with jaggary

Sieve together wholewheat flour and baking soda into the above mixture.

Knead well, you should be able to roll the mixture into little balls between your palms without breaking. If you find it difficult to roll into balls, add a little more ghee.

When the mixture has attained the right consistency, roll them into tiny balls and arrange on a greased tray.

Ready to bake (L)-with Sucanat (R)- with jaggary

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes or till done.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

Baked-Top-with jaggary, Bottom- with Sucanat

(L)-Sucanat, (R)-jaggary

Note:
Once rolled into balls do not flatten if you want the finished biscuit to have a hollow space inside.

You will know that the baking is done when your kitchen fills with the aroma of roasted wheat flour and
the biscuits begin to develop cracks on top.

Do not worry if they are soft to touch, they will harden once cooled to room tempeature.

The biscuits made using wholewheat flour and jaggary/Sucanat will be harder than the ones made using sugar, all purpose flour.
(I forgot to put them into an airtight container and as a result noticed that the one with jaggary was softer the next day. So I now know the method of making soft melt in your mouth whole wheat nan katai ;-))

I noticed that even thought the Sucanat was coarse, it was uniformly sweet.The lumps in the jaggary melted in a couple of places, but didn't affect the overall taste negatively.

These taste best the day after baking. Taste wise the jaggary version had a hint of jaggary flavour even then it tasted great.

As promised, I visited our neighbour with a box filled with the healthier version of Benne biscuit. The sisters took a bite closed their eyes and a smile lit on their experienced face. That's when I heaved a sigh of relief!

This post is dedicated to our neighbours Sudha teacher and her ever enthusiastic sister. Thankyou!