Bakarkhani or Baqarkhani, also known as bakar khani roti, is a thick, spiced

flat-bread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. ...

that is part of the

Mughlai cuisine Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed in the medieval 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 Central Asian and Islami ...

. Bakarkhani is prepared on certain Muslim religious festivals and is now popular as sweet bread. Bakorkhani is almost biscuit-like in texture, with a hard crust. The chief ingredients are flour,

semolina Semolina is coarsely milled durum wheat mainly used in making couscous, 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 corn) as well. Ety ...

, sugar, molasses 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 in ...

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 o ...

or nigella seeds, salt, and ghee (clarified butter).

Legend

A legend attributes the bread's name to

Mirza Agha Baqer Mirza Agha Muhammad Baqer ( fa, , bn, মীর্জা আগা মুহম্মদ বাকের) was an aristocrat of the Mughal Empire and the Zamindar of Buzurg-Umedpur and Salimabad. In the Mughal period, these two parganas were sp ...

, a son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan II. According to the legend, Baqer, a general based in Chittagong under Nawab

Siraj ud-Daulah Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

of Bengal, falls in love with a dancer called Khani Begum from

Arambagh Arambagh also known as Arambag is a town and a municipality in Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Arambagh subdivision. Geography Location Arambagh is located at . It has an average elevation of ...

, 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 India 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 similar in functio ...

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 South Bengal ( bn, দক্ষিণবঙ্গ/দক্ষিণ বাংলা) is a term used for the southern parts of Bengal including Southern Bangladesh and Southern West Bengal, state in India. The Bangladesh part denotes the Khulna ...

. 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 word ''taravāri'' ( sa, तरवारि) ...

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

Patuakhali Patuakhali ( bn, পটুয়াখালী ''Potuakhali'') is a town and district headquarter of Patuakhali District located on the southern bank of Laukathi river in the division of Barisal in Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquar ...

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), 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 Di ...

). Baker Khan builds a tomb over her grave and Bakla-Chandradwip would be renamed

Bakerganj Bakerganj (বাকেরগঞ্জ) is a town in Barisal District, Barisal Division, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in ...

after him. Baker was already familiar with this area as he was a jagirdar in

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

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

's first bakorkhani shop opened in close proximity to

Lalbagh Fort Lalbagh Fort ( bn, লালবাগ কেল্লা) is a fort in the old city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its name is derived from its neighborhood Lalbagh, which means Red Garden. The term Lalbagh refers to reddish and pinkish architecture from ...

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

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions ...

. The

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Be ...

, specifically Mughal Dhaka, was a hub for merchants from all parts of

the subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

and even as far as the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

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

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in places such as Kashmir,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

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, "Bakarkhani gives Old Dhaka a unique and distinct culinary identity". According to

Hakim Habibur Rahman Hakim Habibur Rahman ( bn, হাকিম হাবিবুর রহমান, ur, حکیم حبیب الرحمان ) (23 March 188123 February 1947) was an ''Unani'' physician, litterateur, journalist, politician and chronicler in early 20 ...

, Bakarkhani could not be found in anywhere else than Dhaka during the colonial period.

Preparation

Bakorkhani 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 genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

, 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 urn-shaped oven, usually made of clay, originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti and naan, as well as to roast meat. The tandoo ...

or tawa girdle.

Variations

It is also known as ''shukha'' (meaning 'dry') ''naan'' or ''shukha roti'' due to its dry texture.

, author of ''Dhaka Panchas Baras Pahle'', lists three variations of bakorkhani; 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 and Chittagong resemble a sweet and syrupy porota, whilst the Bakarkhani of

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) 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 in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

is thick and doughy and often contains pieces of morobba. There is also a Kashmiri variant of bakorkhani which is a thinner variety, similar to round

naan Naan ( fa, نان, nān, ur, , ps, نان, ug, نان, hi, नान, bn, নান) is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread which is found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, ...

in appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled with

sesame seed Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering 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 cu ...

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

noon chai Noon chai (), also called Sheer chai (), Namkeen chai (), Kashmiri tea or Pink tea, is a traditional tea beverage, originating in Kashmir. It is made with gunpowder tea (green tea leaves rolled into small balls), milk and baking soda. Etymol ...

In literature

Bakorkhani is mentioned in lines of a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poem by

Pratul Mukhopadhyay Pratul Mukhopadhyay (born 1942) is a Bengali singer, creative artist and songwriter. He is the writer and the singer of the famous Bengali song '' Ami Banglay Gan Gai'' and ''Dinga Bhashao Sagore''. He was a playback singer in the Bengali film G ...

References