This is the definitive Indian biscuit. Countless recipes have all sorts of different ingredients but they all contain semolina and plain flour. Many decades ago, women would prepare their biscuit dough at home and take it to a communal oven or bakery for the baker to bake. The cooked biscuits would then be delivered back to them.

Picture by Jason Lowe

Makes approx 16-18 biscuits

80g/2¾ oz unsalted butter

3-4 drops vanilla essence

4 green cardamom pods, seeds only, crushed

155g/5½ plain flour, sifted

50g/ 1¾ oz fine semolina

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Grease a baking tray. In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla essence and cardamom. Add the flour and semolina. Mix into a firm paste and gently knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be quite crumbly. Dust your hands with flour. Take pieces the size of golf balls and flatten into circles about 1.5cm thick, or roll out the dough and use a biscuit cutter. Place on the baking tray at least 2.5cm/1 inch apart and bake for 12-15 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for upto 3 weeks.