Cardamom Shortbread

These cookies originated in Gujarat, where they are especially popular with Parsis and Muslims. Nankhatai weren’t ever made in my mother’s house but they appeared fairly often, brought back as a food souvenir by travelers to Surat and Navsari, strongholds of traditional Parsi culture, or bought from local sweetmeat shops. During times of Muslim festivals like Ramzan (Ramadan), the street stalls in Muslim areas of Bombay are piled high with tissue-wrapped nankhatai, wrapped bac