While I was on book tour in Boston, I took a little jaunt outside of the city to see what I could see. Happily, I was rewarded, sweetly, with a type of cookie I'd never tried before: Nokodi, spied at Tabrizi Bakery, a Persian bakery in Watertown.
I'd never heard of Nokodi before I walked into this sweet little spot, where I was greeted by the baker having what sounded like an oddly friendly shouting match with a--customer? Friend? Co-worker? who was standing by the counter.
At the bakery, these tiny clover-shaped cookies are simply labeled "Nokodi - Chickpea Cookies". The website reveals that the ingredients include chickpea flour, flour, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla, and cardamom.
But this doesn't come close to explaining the exquisite, spicy, meltaway quality that these cookies have when you eat them. They're almost powdery in texture, but when paired with a spicy mint tea, they're a thing of great beauty, not overly sweet but rather nutty-tasting, and decidedly addictive.
Of course, the small shop, which is in a state of charming dissaray, also boasts a variety of other Middle Eastern cookies (Berenji, rice flour cookies; Gerdeui, walnut macaroons; Nazok, flat cookies with seeds and honey) as well as sweets such as baklava, Bami (a small ball oval shape cooked in corn oil dipped in honey syrup) and Zolbi (Golden color pretzel shaped, dipped in honey syrup cooked in corn oil). They also have imported canned goods and snacks.
Overall, a sweet destination if you're in the Boston area!
Tabrizi Bakery, 56 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown; online here.