Take shelled pistachios and roughly chop them.

With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. In another bowl, add flour, baking powder, cardamom powder. Give it a stir.

With mixer on low speed, add flour mix, mixing just until dough forms. If the mixture looks very dry and crumbly, add 2 tbsp of milk to help us bring the dough together.

Stir in the roughly chopped pistachios.

Transfer dough on lightly floured parchment paper or plastic wrap. With floured hands, gently roll each into a 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Sprinkle log evenly with desired coating (demerara sugar or roughly ground pistachios) if using, rolling log (to help coating adhere) and pressing in gently. Wrap logs tightly in the paper/plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, for at least 20 minutes to an hour.

(To store longer, wrap log and paper tightly with plastic wrap.) It can keep in the refrigerator for about 4 days or frozen for 3 months. (Emergency Cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap logs; with a serrated knife, slice the dough 3/8-inch-thick (if the dough crumbles, leave it at room temperature for few minutes). Arrange slices, about an inch apart, on baking sheet.

Bake until lightly golden around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 1 to 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve them with tea or coffee. They can be paired with mango ice cream or panna cotta. So good.