Bakarkhani or Baqarkhani or Bakorkhoni also known as bakarkhani roti, is a thick, spiced flat-bread that is part of the

Mughlai cuisine Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in the early-modern Indo-Persian cultural centres of the Mughal Empire. It represents a combination of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes of C ...

. Bakarkhani is prepared on certain

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

religious festivals in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and is now popular as sweet bread. Bakarkhani is almost

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

-like in texture, with a hard crust. The chief ingredients are flour,

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

, sugar,

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

soaked in

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...

or nigella seeds, salt, and

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

(clarified butter).

Legend

A legend attributes the bread's name to Mirza Agha Baqer, a son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan II. According to the legend, Baqer, a general based in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

under Nawab

Siraj ud-Daulah Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah (1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of the Bengal Subah. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of th ...

of Bengal, falls in love with a dancer called Khani Begum from Arambagh, who was also eyed by Zaynul Khan, the city's

kotwal The Kotwal also spelled as Cotwal, or Kotval, was a title used in medieval and early modern period for the leader of a Kot or fort. Kotwals often controlled the fort of a major town or an area of smaller towns on behalf of another ruler. It was ...

and the son of a wazir. Zaynul attempts to attack Khani for rejecting him, and Baker intervenes, defeating Zaynul in a swordfight. Zaynul 's two companions go and lie to his father, the wazir, telling him that Baker has killed Zaynul. Out of fury, the wazir orders them to put Baker inside a cage with a tiger. Baker kills the tiger and at the same time, the claim of Zaynul's death is found to be false. The wazir, Jahandar Khan, and his son Zaynul then kidnap Khani and set off for South Bengal. The battle continues there as Baker arrives to rescue Khani. In another brawl of

talwar The talwar (), also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent. Etymology and classification The word ''talwar'' originated from the Sanskrit Language, Sanskrit word ''taravāri'' () which means ...

s, Jahandar accidentally kills Zaynul, after Zaynul inadvertently murders Khani. Khani is later buried in Bakla-Chandradwip (

Patuakhali Patuakhali ( ''Potuakhali'') is a town and district headquarters of Patuakhali District located on the southern bank of Laukathi river in Barisal Division in Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquarter of Patuakhali district and one of the ...

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

). Baker Khan builds a tomb over her grave and Bakla-Chandradwip would be renamed Bakerganj after him. Baker was already familiar with this area as he was a jagirdar in

's Salimabad and Umedpur

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

s. The tragic love story of Baker Khan and Khani Begum inspired the bakers to name his favourite bread ''Bakerkhani''.

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

's first bakarkhani shop opened in close proximity to

Lalbagh Fort The Lalbagh Fort () is a historic fort situated in the old city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its name is derived from its neighbourhood Lalbagh, which means Red Garden. The term Lalbagh refers to reddish and pinkish hues in the Mughal architecture. Th ...

and many of the city's bakarkhani sellers originate from the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

. The

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...

, specifically Mughal Dhaka, was a hub for merchants from all parts of the subcontinent and even as far as the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Through trade and travel, the bakarkhani became popular outside of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

in places such as

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Regions

Bakarkhani is popular in the regions of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Russia. Utsa Ray, a culinary historian, described Bakarkhani as the "pride" of the "gastronomic culture of

" and according to other scholars, "Bakorkhoni gives Old Dhaka a unique and distinct culinary identity". According to Hakim Habibur Rahman, Bakorkhoni could not be found in anywhere else than Dhaka during the colonial period.

Preparation

Bakarkhani is made by kneading together flour, ghee, in some cases

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

, sugar and salt with water. The dough is then flattened. The bread is made by stretching a sheet of dough repeatedly and interleaving with ghee, molasses, saffron water, poppy or nigella seeds before baking on a

tandoor A tandoor ( or ) is a large vase-shaped oven, usually made of clay. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti (as well as leavened ones, such as naan) and to roast meat. Tandoors are predominantly use ...

or tawa girdle.

Variations

It is also known as ''shukha'' (meaning 'dry') ''naan'' or ''shukha roti'' due to its dry texture. Hakim Habibur Rahman, author of ''Dhaka Panchas Baras Pahle'', lists three variations of bakarkhani; Gao-joban, shuki (shukha) and nimshuki. There are also other variations such as kaicha-ruti, mulam and chinshuki. Outside of Dhaka, different types of Bakarkhani are eaten across the country. The Bakarkhani of

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

and

resemble a sweet and syrupy porota, whilst the Bakarkhani of

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka. It is bounded on the north by Suihari, Katapara, Bangi ...

is thick and doughy and often contains pieces of morobba. There is also a

i variant of bakarkhani which is a thinner variety, similar to round

naan Naan () is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread, that can also be baked in a tandoor. It is characterized by a light and fluffy texture and golden-brown spots from the baking process. Naan is found in the cuisines of Central Asia ...

in appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled with

sesame seed Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

s. It is typically consumed hot, during breakfast, often with noon chai.

In literature

Bakarkhani is mentioned in lines of a Bengali poem by Pratul Mukhopadhyay:

References