Zesty South Indian Kitchen
menu icon
search icon
×

Osmania biscuit : An Authentic Short Bread From India

Published: · Modified: ·by .This post may contain affiliate links ·

In India, go to any state, and you will be surprised to find a cuisine that is vastly different. Nowadays you can find south Indian restaurants in the North and vice versa, but in every region of India you will find an authentic local cuisine. Hyderabad the capital city of Andhra Pradesh heavily influenced by North Indian cuisines like Awadhi, Mughali and Tandoori with a mix of the spices and herbs of the native Andhra and Kannada cuisine. The specialty of the south Indian dishes is the use of coconut and tamarind. If you want to read more about Hyderabad cuisine read from here. However no survey of Hyderabadi food would be complete without mentioning Hyderabadi Biryani, which is an iconic dish of the region.
Some of the famous Hyderabad preparations are Qubani ka meetha/Apricot pudding, Double ka meetha/Bread pudding, Phirni/ Rice pudding, Kaddu Ki Kheer / Gourd pudding, Sheer Qorma (a sweet liquid dish cooked with vermicelli and milk) and curries like Mirchi ka saalan/ Chili curry, Bagaare baigan/Eggplant curry, Khatti dal/Lentil dish, Khichdi and Khatta, Til ki chutney/ Seasme seed dip, baigan ki chutney/ Eggplant chutney, Shahi tukde, Kheema aaloo etc.
A local favorite at cafes and bakeries or the street-corners caterers are the Irani chai/Tea, Irani samosa and Osmania biscuit.
Last week while usual grazing on You tube, I found an interesting episode on Flavors of India: a travelogue on Hyderabad by Lakshmi Nair, which is similar to Guy Fieri episode: Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,. In that episode she visits a bakery and the bakery guys explain making of Osmania biscuit and salt biscuit. So I can boast that this is an authentic recipe. Osmania biscuit is named after last ruler of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan; it is a soft tea biscuit. Biscuit in India means short bread, not the American version of biscuit which we consume during breakfast. I was inquisitive of what would be the taste of this biscuit, and the only way to experience it was to make it myself. Surprisingly it did turn out to be wonderful. Now if I ever visit Hyderabad, trying this biscuit and the Hyderabadi Biryani would be high on my agenda.
Osmania biscuit turned out to be slightly sweetened melt in mouth similar to short bread. Recipe is asking for margarine; however I substituted with butter and vegetable shortening. Otherwise I followed the recipe by converting it into cups and tablespoon with help of my dear hubby. Try some time sure you are going to be admirer of this biscuit. Here goes the recipe

What you need

All purpose flour: 1 cup (I used unbleached king Arthur all purpose flour)
Butter: 5 tablespoon (softened at room temperature)*
Vegetable shortening: 3 tablespoon (I used Crisco)*
Powdered Sugar: 2 tablespoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Sweetened Condensed milk: 2 teaspoon (I used low fat one)
Corn starch/corn flour: ½ teaspoon
Custard powder: 1 teaspoon ( I haven't used)
Instant dry milk powder: 1 teaspoon (You can substitute with 1 tablespoon of milk)
Milk: 2 tablespoon
Cardamom: 2 nos (crushed, optional, not in original recipe, I added)
*original recipe calls for margarine, if you have in hand use it(½cup)
How I made

In a bowl of electric mixer attached with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and shortening and powdered sugar until they are just combined. To this add sweetened condensed milk and milk powder/milk and mix until mixed well.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, corn starch, crushed cardamom and salt; then add them to the butter-shortening sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and roll shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
While dough is chilling in the refrigerator preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Roll the dough ½-inch thick and cut with a 2 ¼ inch biscuit cutter.
Place the cookies on an ungreased sheet pan lined with nonstick aluminum foil.
Mist the cookies with milk, so that cookies.gets nice color.
Bake for 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Enjoy with tea or without.

If you want to make it in bulk here is the measurements
All purpose flour:2 kg(I used unbleached king Arthur all purpose flour)
Margarine:  1kg ( If you don't have in your hand use butter and shortening combo)
Powdered Sugar: 300g
Salt: 35g
Sweetened Condensed milk: 100g
Corn starch/corn flour: 30g
Custard powder: 50g
Instant dry milk powder: 50g
Milk: 2 tablespoon
Water: little

After having a bite.

Preparation time: 1 hour 10 minutes, Prep: 15 minutes, chilling 30 minutes, baking 25 minutes

Yield: 15 no
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

 
5

More Bakes

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Thanks for coming! Let me know what you think:

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Shweet Spicess says

    im eating one right nw and came across this post lolz

    Reply

  2. Neel says

    Even I love the Osmania biscuits which we get in Hyderabad bakeries, My husband is from there and he educated me about this delicious delight of the city . Now I can bake for him without a visit to the city. Would definitely give a try soon.Thanks Swathi

    Reply

  4. ALI says

    lovely................................

    Reply

  5. JK says

    Unlike all the other comments posted without trying the biscuits, we made them. They are so yummy. Don't use cardamom if you are really after the biscuits they sell in cafes in India.
    Rating 10/10.

    Reply

  7. Zeenu says

    Hi swathi...very tasty recipe..Looking So Good

    Reply

  8. RV says

    So glad to know that you got this recipe. They looks so cruncy and yumm

    Reply

  9. Pari says

    Thanks for the lovely entry dear, have heard a lot about them, must try them some time.
    Foodelicious

    Reply

  10. Cinnamon Girl says

    What a lovely biscuit to enjoy with a cup of tea! Scrumptious!

    Reply

  11. RAKS KITCHEN says

    This looks like a perfect tea time snack,love the recipe!

    Reply

  12. Abhilash Pillai says

    My target for the next visit to hyderabad is the Osmania buscuit... Your prepration looks nice.. as you said I cannot comment on the taste as I need to have it... Will try it for sure.

    Reply

  13. Joanne says

    I love learning about different regional cuisines. These cookies look like the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea!

    Reply

  14. Sarah Naveen says

    This is awesome...i wanna have one now...
    yummy yumm..
    and the chammanthy podi ..ooh...i want that too

    Reply

  15. Panchpakwan says

    Cookies looks crispy and delicious...

    Reply

  16. PranisKitchen says

    swathi thats abest tea time sanck.. very delicious looking cookies good one da..

    Reply

  17. தக்குடுபாண்டி says

    அவசரத்துல osmania- வை ஒசாமா- நு வாசிச்சுட்டேன். ஒருவேளை அவருக்கு இந்த பிஸ்கட்தான் பிடிக்கும் போலருக்குன்னு நினைச்சேன்..:PP

    Reply

  18. Sushma Mallya says

    Very tempting, your clicks are making me hungry...

    Reply

  19. Hamaree Rasoi says

    Hi Dear

    I have an award for you in my blog. Please accept it

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

    Reply

  20. Faith says

    This looks so delicious! I would love to have one with a cup of tea!

    Reply

  21. Indie.Tea says

    I've never had those (I guess I'm North Indian...but I've never been to India)...
    They look delicious, and I'd definitely have them with tea!

    Reply

  22. Hamaree Rasoi says

    You are actually tempting me with your last pic :-)Looks crispy and yummyDeepaHamaree Rasoi

    Reply

  23. SpicyTasty says

    Looks so yummy. Nice step by step instructions.

    Reply

  24. Usha says

    Swathi, these biscuits look delicious ! I have never tasted these but after seeing your pictures I am very tempted to try them 🙂

    Reply

  25. vineetha says

    Hi swathy,
    Kudos for ur effort to try this out .Its looks so good and perfect.

    Reply

  26. Vrinda says

    Delicious n crispy biscuits...gr8 recipe too...

    Reply

  27. Neha says

    well explained recipe swathi...biscuits look so tasty

    Reply

  29. srividhya Ravikumar says

    crispy biscuit swathi... looks nice...

    Reply

  31. Kamalika says

    the biscuits look perfect and crispy..very informative read also....

    Reply

  32. Bergamot says

    Nice and crunchy

    Reply

  33. Ameya says

    perfect tea time snack! looks tasty!!

    Reply

  34. Hari Chandana says

    Lovely biscuits .. looks perfect and delicious.. thanks for the recipe dear.. gr8 clicks too 🙂

    Reply

  35. Ms.Chitchat says

    Even I love the butter biscuits which we get in Indian bakeries, urs look very tempting and crunchy. Would definitely give a try soon.

    Reply

  36. fancythatfancythis.com says

    The biscuits look divine...and perfect! Thank you for the fabulous and do-able recipe.

    Reply

  38. Sreelekha Sumesh says

    Swathi,biscuit kandittu kothi vannu:)looks perfect and yummy:)

    Reply

  39. Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says

    Wow, they look simply delicious !!! I would love to have it with my coffee 🙂

    Reply

  41. sanjeeta kk says

    Lovely and crispy biscuits. Thanks for sharing. Would surely bake it soon.

    Reply

  42. aipi says

    nice biscuits swathi, they came out so perfect..
    loved the last pic..very tempting 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] So I’d never heard of these ever before until Dinesh alerted me to them. Since we’d wanted to make some new cookies, why not these? As usual, of course  we were inspired by a website. […]

    Reply

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!