Nankhatai (; Burmese: áÂÂá¶áÂÂáÂÂáÂÂá¯áÂÂáº; Hindustani: à ¤¨à ¤¾à ¤¨à ¤Âà ¤¼à ¤¤à ¤¾à ¤ <small>(Hindi) à ¨¨à ¨¾à ¨¨ à ¨Âà ¨Âà ¨¾à ¨ (Punjabi)</small> / <small>(Urdu)</small>; ; Tamil: à ®¨à ®¾à ®©à ®¹à ®¤à ¯Âà ®¤à ®¾) are shortbread biscuits originating in the Indian subcontinent, common in Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The word nankhatai is derived from the Classical Persian , , composed of meaning âÂÂbreadâ and meaning âÂÂCathayanâÂÂ. The word has been borrowed into the Burmese language as nankahtaing (áÂÂá¶áÂÂáÂÂáÂÂá¯áÂÂáº), in the Tamil language (in East Tamil Nadu) as naanahatha (à ®¨à ®¾à ®©à ®¹à ®¤à ¯Âà ®¤à ®¾), and in the Sinhala language (in Sri Lanka) as ghanakatha (à ¶¤à ·Âà ¶«à ¶Âà ¶Âà ·Â).
In Afghanistan and northeastern Iran, these biscuits are called kulcha-i khaá¹ÂÃÂþë in Persian (kulcha is a type of Afghan, Iranian and Indian bread similar to nÃÂn).
It is also a mispronunciation of naan-e-koá¹Âah â shortbread where naan means Bread, and koá¹Âah means short. So it's a bread which is taken as a snack for settling the 'false' hunger. To support this claim, koá¹Âahi in Urdu means mistake âÂÂàshortcoming. koá¹ÂahâÂÂnazar in Urdu /koá¹ÂahâÂÂbeen in Persian 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 spelt nuncatie in English.
Nankhatai is believed to have originated in India in the 16th century, when Dutch and Indians were the important spice traders. The main ingredients in nankhatai are refined flour, chickpea flour and semolina. Some other recipes do not use chickpea flour.