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For many of us, Nokhodchi (chickpea sweets and cookies) are associated with memories of Eid, the coziness of grandma’s house, and New Year’s visits.
Among Iranian sweets, Nokhodchi is very popular.
Nokhodchi or Nan-e Nokhodchi is one of the traditional sweets of Qazvin and one of the most famous Iranian sweets. Currently, it is prepared in most cities of Iran.
Due to the smallness of the sweet, Nokhodchi is suitable for Nowruz Eid and for your children to eat.
This sweet is easy to make, and you can easily make it at home. Nokhodchi can be cooked in the oven and without. Today in The Cookery Magazine, we are going to learn how to make Nokhodchi cookies in the oven.
Many authentic Iranian sweets, such as Qazvin tea bread, are registered under the name “Nan (bread)” instead of “sweet,” which is due to the high ratio of flour to the rest of the ingredients and their low sweetness.
Nokhodchi is traditionally and classically made of limited materials, which makes the use of quality ingredients different from confectionery and much tastier.
There are various recipes for this sweet, but the original and traditional Nokhodchi recipe is prepared from the combination of chickpea flour, solid oil, and powdered sugar, which increases the shelf life of this sweet without dairy products, and its good taste and durability, make it one of the lists of Nowruz sweets.
This traditional sweet has a relatively long shelf life, and you can store it for 2 to 3 weeks at room temperature; The cake’s life in the refrigerator is about two months.
In addition, due to the absence of dairy products and wheat flour, Nokhodchi can be used by those prohibited from consuming gluten and lactose.
Baking traditional Iranian sweets requires practice and following many tips, so don’t be disappointed if you don’t get the desired result the first timeBut who in our land, for the first time, discovered that mixing some available food ingredients makes it possible to create such a popular and different product? It is one of the secrets of history and is hidden from us.
But as soon as we turn the pages of the history book and look for historical clues, we come across some familiar names that, like many contemporary affairs, have played a role in the confectionery industry.
In our history, Naser al-Din Shah‘s name has been associated with sweets and confectionery due to his efforts to produce Iranian sugar.
Without him and Reza Shah, a sugar factory would not have been established in Iran, leading to the prosperity of confectionery and pastry.
What our forefathers have written in history tells about it is that, during the Nasrid era, a confectioner (ŁŁŁŲ§ŲÆ (Ghannad)) was someone who sold sugar and candy; good sugar was not produced in Iran, so domestically produced sugar was tasteless and replaced by Russian and Belgian sugars.
Russian and Belgian sugars were delicious, and it was in accordance with the desire of tea-drinker Iranians.
So, the confectioners, whose main and primary job was to sell sugar, did not only profit from the supply of Iranian sugar, but this work ended up being detrimental to them. For this reason, they showed a desire to sell foreign sugar.
That was an issue that Naser al-Din Shah did not like. Although history has made detailed slanders about this king, he is the one who rolled up his sleeves to improve the quality of Iranian sugar and started a sugar factory in Kahrizak village, but it seems that all the events during the Naseri era were supposed to be accompanied by conspiracy.
The sugar factory was shut down after 12 days, and the sale of Russian and Belgian sugar continued in the country’s confectioneries.
This failed factory in the Qajar era came to fruition during the first Pahlavi era and produced the first delicious Iranian sugars; this was why we name Naser al-Din Shah in every article about Iranian sweets.
Ingredients for making Nokhodchi | Persian Chickpea Cookies:
| Chickpea flour | 4 cups or 500 grams (Ā½ kg) |
| Grated green cardamom | 1 tablespoon |
| Powdered sugar | 2 cups or 250 grams (Ā¼ kg) |
| Solid oil | 2 cups or 250 grams (Ā¼ kg) |
| Pistachio slices | As much as needed |
* As you wish, you could add Ā½ tablespoon of rose water.
Recipe for making Nokhodchi | Persian Chickpea Cookies:
The first step:
First, sift chickpea flour two times until it gets completely smooth and uniform. Sieve the sugar powder once. According to experience, sieving results in a more uniform dough. Combine powdered sugar and solid oil; after they are completely mixed and uniform, add chickpea flour.
The second step:
Add grated cardamom while kneading the dough. You can also use a mixer or meat grinder to mix this dough. But you should pay attention to kneading the dough sparingly because it will cause the dough to be oily.
Knead the dough until it is completely smooth and uniform.
After the dough is ready, cover it with nylon and rest for 2 to 6 hours.
The third step:
After resting, roll out the dough on a flat surface with a rolling pin. The surface of the dough should be completely smooth and uniform.
The height of the dough should be the same as the height of the mold you want.
The fourth step:
Spread a sheet of parchment paper on the baking tray. Mold the dough and place it on a tray. You can use thick saffron or pistachio slices to decorate the Nokhodchi.
Ten minutes before, please turn on the oven and set it to 160 degrees Celsius to heat it up.
Place the pastry tray in the oven and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes. But during this time, check them regularly because the sweets cook faster in some ovens.
After baking, remove the tray from the oven and let the cookies cool down completely, then remove them from the tray and place them in the desired container.
Tips to make Nokhodchi | Persian Chickpea Cookies tastier:
- Use high-quality ingredients to make Nokhodchi, so that the quality is excellent, and also use fresh chickpea flour.
- To create a good taste, if you wish, you can grind half a tablespoon of fresh cardamom and add it to the pastry dough so that the pastry will have a unique taste and aroma after baking; You can also decorate this sweet with saffron or pistachio powder or almonds.
- Nokhodchi is one of the cakes and dry sweets that can be served as a snack and as a dessert, and the longer the dough is left, the better it will be.
- We can’t use butter instead of oil to make Nokhodchi; the butter will burn the Nokhodchi and won’t taste good! Therefore, use high-quality solid oil to obtain the desired and delicious sweet Nokhodchi.
- You can add 30 to 40 grams of solid oil to make the nokhodchi pastry dough powdery, although this pastry will be tastier and better quality without oil.
- If you want the Nokhodchi to harden after cooking, use 100 grams of flour instead of 100 grams of chickpea flour. Rice flour helps to make your sweets more crispy; For this reason, you can reduce 100 grams of chickpea flour and use rice flour instead.
- It should be noted that nokhodchi will stay the same size and shape in the oven; if this happens, you need to use the raw materials correctly.
- Because the dough of this pastry is easy, it is usually a bit difficult to mold, so you have to increase or decrease its amount according to the type of flour.
- You should know that Nokhodchi is fragile when hot, so be patient until it cools down, and don’t touch them; Wait for this cake to cool completely and then remove it from the tray.
Conclusion:
Thank you again for being with us with an excellent, delicious, authentic Iranian recipe. Share your experiences with us, and if you have any tips to improve the food recipe, be sure to comment; thank you.
And finally, I would like to thank those who took the time to read this article about nokhodchi. It is hoped that among the delicious foods of different societies, Iranian food is gaining more and more fans every day.
Frequently Asked Questions about nokhodchi:
How long does it take to prepare the ingredients and cook?
The preparation time for raw materials and their necessities is about 20 minutes.
And the cooking and waiting time is about 20 minutes.
What is the preparation temperature of the material?
Heat the oven a little, the temperature is 150 and the baking time of this cake is 15-20 minutes.
