Nankhatai ( bn, নানখাতাই,

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

: नानख़टाई ( Devanagari) / ( Urdu)) are shortbread biscuits originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(formerly Burma).

Etymology

The word ''nankhatai'' is derived from the Persian word '' naan'' meaning bread and from a Dari Persian word meaning

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

. ''Nankhatai'' has been borrowed into the Burmese language as ''nankahtaing'' (နံကထိုင်). It is called by "NaanaHatha" (நானஹத்தா) in Tamil language in East Tamil Nadu & "Gnanakathaa" ( ඤාණකතා) in The Sinhala Language in Sri Lanka. In Afghanistan and Northeast Iran, these biscuits are called ''kulcha-e-khataye''. Kulcha is a type of

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

, Iranian and Indian bread similar to naan.

History

''Nankhatai'' is believed to have originated in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

in the 16th century, when Dutch and Indians were the important spice traders. A Dutch couple set up a bakery in Surat to meet the needs of local Dutch residents. When the Dutch left India, they handed over the bakery to an Iranian. The bakery biscuits were disliked by the locals. To save his business he started selling dried bread at low prices. It became so popular that he started drying the bread before selling it. With time, his experimentation with bread inspired him to ultimately invent ''nankhatai''. The main ingredients in nankhatai are

refined flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. ...

, chickpea flour and semolina.

References

{{Burmese cuisine Burmese cuisine Indian cuisine Pakistani cuisine Biscuits Shortbread Burmese desserts and snacks Bangladeshi cuisine

Etymology

History

See also

References