Cumin and nigella seed shortbreads

Think a naan meets sweet, buttery biscuits

Hey there! My name is Apoorva Sripathi, I’m a writer, editor, and artist. This week’s paid subscriber newsletter is a recipe for buttery shortbreads rolled in a cumin-nigella seed mixture. I hope you’ll give it a go!

Sometimes I cook for the pleasure of it all, to honour the ingredients I have before me. Other times I cook just so I can eat. This is a happy marriage of both – honouring my favourite ingredients (aka butter, salt, and spices) as well as wanting to eat something deeply satisfying.

These shortbreads are inspired by those ubiquitous jeera biscuits that you get in the subcontinent as well as (my obsession with) Britannia’s 50-50 golmaal ones featuring kalonji seeds; I’ve tried to replicate them and have had great success with this recipe. The shortbreads are nutty, savoury, and delicately buttery and better than anything you get from a supermarket¹. I’ve adapted my recipe from Nigella Lawson’s vanilla shortbread recipe, minus the vanilla of course, and substituted the cornflour with white rye, which encourages the light, crumbly texture. Once the main dough is done, you just roll it into the seed-sugar-salt mixture, and slice and bake whenever you require a savoury hit. Make this well in advance, no stand mixer/heavy equipment required.