 | |
| Alternative names | Kulcha-i khaṭāʾī |
|---|---|
| Type | Shortbread |
| Region or state | Indian subcontinent |
| Associatedcuisine | Indian,Bangladeshi,Pakistani |
| Main ingredients | Wheat flour, Rice flour, Butter, Powdered Sugar, Milk/Yogurt, Salt, Honey, Baking Powder |
Nankhatai (Bengali:নানখাতাই;Burmese: နံကထိုင်;Hindustani: नानख़ताई(Hindi) ਨਾਨ ਖਟਾਈ (Punjabi) /نان خطائی(Urdu);Sinhala:ඤාණකතා;Tamil: நானஹத்தா) areshortbread biscuits originating in theIndian subcontinent, popular in Northern India,Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, andMyanmar (formerly Burma).[1]
The wordnankhatai is derived from theClassical Persianنانِ خطائیnān-i khaṭāʾī,lit. 'Cathayan bread, bread ofCathay [northern China]',[2] composed ofنانnān meaning ‘bread’ andخطائیkhaṭāʾī meaning ‘Cathayan’.[2] The word has been borrowed into theBurmese language asnankahtaing (နံကထိုင်), in theTamil language (in East Tamil Nadu) asnaanahatha (நானஹத்தா), and in theSinhala language (in Sri Lanka) asghanakatha (ඤාණකතා).[3]
In Afghanistan and northeastern Iran, these biscuits are calledکلچهٔ خطائیkulcha-i khaṭāʾī in Persian (kulcha is a type ofAfghan,Iranian andIndian bread similar tonān).[4]
It is also a mispronunciation ofنانِ کوتاہnaan-e-koṭah –shortbread whereنانnaan meansBread, andکوتاہkoṭah means short.[5] So it's a bread which is taken as a snack for settling the 'false' hunger. To support this claim,کوتاہیkoṭahi in Urdu means mistake – shortcoming.کوتاہ نظرکوتاہ بینkoṭah–nazar in Urdu /koṭah–been inPersian 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 speltnuncatie in English.[2]
Nankhatai is believed to have originated inIndia in the 16th century, when Dutch and Indians were the important spice traders.[6][7] The main ingredients in nankhatai arerefined flour,chickpea flour andsemolina.[8] Some othertraditional nankhataiArchived 2023-10-13 at theWayback Machine recipes do not use chickpea flour.[9]
The derivation from 'K̲h̲aṭâî,' of Cathay or China is correct. […] Recipes for making 'Nuncaties' are given in many Indian cookery books, but there is no special mention in any of them of Mr. Weir'ssix ingredients; and 'leaven produced from toddy' does not, so far as I know, enter into the composition of these cakes at all.
