In a grinder jar, take the sugar, seeds from 4 to 5 green cardamoms, a pinch of saffron strands and grated nutmeg.
Grind to a fine powder. Keep aside. If you have powdered sugar already, then use ½ cup of powdered sugar.
Grease a tray or pan very well with 1 to 2 tsp butter or ghee. Also preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius/356 degrees fahrenheit.
In a seive, take the whole wheat flour (atta), gram flour and baking soda. Add ¼ teaspoon baking powder if you do not have baking soda.
Sift the dry mixture very well in a mixing bowl or pan.
To the sifted flour mixture add cold or chilled butter. You can also use ½ cup of ghee in semi-solid state.
With your fingertips break the butter and mix with the flour. You can cut the butter in the flour with two knives too. This can also be achieved with a food processor or a stand mixer. If the butter melts while mixing with your hands, then its fine.
Mix till you get a bread crumb like texture in the mixture.
Now add the powdered sugar and lightly mix with your hands.
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons milk. The amount of milk to be added depends on the quality of flour. The mixture should be able to come together and hold itself. If required you can also add overall 3 to 4 tablespoons of milk. I added 2 tablespoons of milk. Add the milk in parts and mix.
Gently bring together the dough into a ball. Do not knead the dough. Just gently mix.
Making whole wheat nankhatai
Now pinch small or medium-sized balls from the dough and lightly roll them. Place the balls on the greased baking tray.
You can gently press them to flatten them. You can also make designs on them with a fork or toothpick. I used a peda design maker to lightly flatten as well as to give a pattern on the top.
Bake them in the pre heated oven at 180 degrees c/356 degrees fahrenheit for 20 to 25 mins till light golden or golden.
Since oven temperatures vary, it may takes less or more time. So do keep a check.
After 2 to 3 minutes, remove them from the tray and keep on a wire rack for cooling.
When cooled at room temperature, store in an airtight jar. Serve Whole Wheat Nankhatai as a tea time cookie.
Notes
Remember not to knead the dough.
If using ghee instead of butter, ensure the ghee is in a semi-solid state.
You can also use fine jaggery powder instead of sugar in this recipe. If the jaggery powder has small granules, run it through a mixer-grinder to get a fine powder.
The recipe can be scaled easily to make a smaller portion or a larger portions.