I'm kind of kicking myself. Behind the scenes, I'm often pressed to find new blog post ideas, week after week. Alert readers may notice that, especially when I'm forced to write about things that are only marginally gross and/or exotic. Being on the road so much helps, as I'm able to visit many different groceries or specialty stores. Recently though, I did what I should have done years ago, and investigated local exotic grocery stores here in Southern New Jersey. I discovered several that weren't too far away. Today's topic came from the India Bazaar supermarket, based out of Stratford, NJ. You'll be hearing about a lot of products that came from this place in the coming weeks and months, since it was a fruitful visit (for one example, literally). Today's focus in on the nankhatai biscuit/cookie, one from Rehmat-e-Shereen, and the other from United King Foods (pvt.) Ltd., both located in Karachi, Pakistan.
Nankhatai, sometimes spelled nankhataee, or as two words, and sometimes capitalized, and sometimes not, is a type of shortbread cookie. The derivation of the name is disputed. Some say it's from the Persian word for "bread" (naan), combined with the Afghan word for "biscuit" (khatai). Others claim the "khat" part is from the word for "six," because the original recipe for the biscuit had six ingredients. And others say it's Nan Catai, meaning "bread of Cathay"--Cathay being an older name for China. Moving on, the history of the cookie is both vague and detailed. Most websites tell the tale that in the 16th century, some Dutch men owned a bakery in Surat, India. When the Dutch largely left India, the establishment was transferred to a man from what's now Iran. Alas, the local customers didn't like this man's wares, so the business was struggling. In desperation, the new owner sold some dried bread, twice baked to preserve it. Fortunately for him, this proved to be a big hit. So, the baker starting sell more twice baked goods, including an invented new biscuit, nankhatai. Other sources flesh out the story a little. Mainly, that the inventor was named Faramji Pestonji Dotivala, and that the nankhatai was inspired by the local Dal sweet combined with some traditional Dutch and Iranian baking techniques. But, oddly, no source I could find provides even the exact decade when the biscuit was invented, or what the names of the Dutch bakers were. However, given that all this occurred over 500 years ago, I suppose we should be grateful for the information we do have. Because of its nature, nankhatai can be seen as a sweeter, dessert-ish cousin of other
twice-baked goods, such as Brazilian toast (see my May 11, 2019 post), zwieback (see the April 13, 2019 post), and Finnish crispbread (see the November 3, 2018 post). And, this cookie is clearly enjoyed not just in India, but in several of the surrounding countries, such as Pakistan.
There wasn't a whole lot of data about the companies who made the biscuits I tried. Both websites were essentially product lists, and not much more. United King Food's site had a "video" and an "events" selection, but nothing had been posted to date. I can report that Rehmat-e-Shereen was started in 1990 by Haji Muhammad, and it markets various sweets, desserts, snacks, and one dairy product (clarified butter). United King Foods (pvt.) Ltd. was established in 1984, and pretty much sells the same types of food as Rehmat-e-Shereen. United King Foods also exports to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S.
1) Rehmat-e-Shereen Nan Khatai biscuits/cookies: These were round, and about 6 cm. (about 2.25 inches) in diameter, with a yellowish white color topped off with a yellowish-brown smear of nuts and stuff. They were powdery, and very short bread-y. I'm not usually that enthusiastic about almonds, but they were good here. Overall the biscuit was sweetish, and pretty good.
2) United King Foods Nan Khataee biscuits/cookies: These were about the same size, color, and shape as the Rehmat-e-Shereen kind. The only major difference was that the smear on top was more brownish. These were also short bread-y and powdery. However, the taste wasn't as strong--these were more bland and boring. So just "meh" in total. (I should point out that my parents sampled both, and had the exact opposite opinion, as they preferred the United King kind to the Rehmat-e-Shereen type.)
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