Put the jaggery and soft butter in a bowl and beat, with an electric beater, till pale and creamy. Add the honey and beat till well mixed.

Sieve together the flour, powdered ginger, the other spice powders, baking powder, baking soda and add to the bowl. Mix this in using the beater on low speed until the dough comes together somewhat.

Switch off the beater and turn it out onto a lightly dusted work surface. Knead the cookie dough by hand till it is soft and smooth but not sticky. Do not add any flour while kneading, except for lightly dusting your work surface.

Press the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This also makes the dough easier to roll and cut out shapes. You can keep this dough in the fridge for a couple of days before making the cookies.

When ready, knead the dough to make sure it is smooth. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough till just under 1/4" thick. Keep dusting flour (with a light hand) while rolling out to make sure the dough doesnu2019t stick to the surface or rolling pin.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutter of size an shape of your choice. Place the cutout cookies on lightly greased baking sheets and bake at 180C (350F) for about 8 minutes or till the cookies turn a light brown in colour. Take them out and let them cool on the sheets for about 3 to 5 minutes and then on racks. The cookies will seem a little soft but they will become crisp once they have cooled completely.

Store them in airtight containers till ready to decorate. My cookie cutters were small (about 2u201d gingerbread men) so I got plenty of cookies.