Bakarkhani(also called Bakorkhani, Bakharkhoni) breads are legendary and have been in existence in Dhaka from around the middle of eighteenth century. A legendary, sad love story between Aga Bakar and Khani Begum inspired the naming of the bread. Baked in a large tandoor oven(earthen oven) the bakarkhani is puff pastry like layered, thin, crisp bread. Best served during tea time or breakfast, the Bakarkhani melts in the mouth in each bite. The bread is also served with kababs often.
According to the book “Kingbadantir Dhaka” by Nazir Hossain, Aga Bakar a general in Chittagong during Nabab Siraj-ud-daulah’s reign (1800s), madly fell in love with a beautiful dancer, Khani Begum. Another official, Jainul Khan, abducted Khani Begum as he had an eye for her at the same time. As Aga Bakar rescued Khani, Jainul fled resulting a rumor that Aga Bakar assassinated Jainul and hidden his dead body.
Eventually, both Khani Begum and Aga Bakar were arrested. Aga Bakar was sentenced to death and put in a cage with a tiger. Strong in his will and love, Aga Bakar killed the tiger and escaped. In the meantime, Jainul abducted Khani one more time and killed her. It is said that Aga Bakar immortalized his love for Khani Begum and her memory through this specially prepared bread by naming it ‘Bakar-Khani’.
There are few variations of localized bakarkhani in Bangladesh. Bakarkhani in Dinajpur, the town I am from, is a doughy, thick bread with morobba pieces. Bakarkhani from Sylhet or Chittagong is paratha like bread soaked in syrup. The legendary Old Dhaka bakarkhani is firm, puff pastry like biscuit. During the preparation of legendary Bakarkhani, it is very important to repeat the ghee and flour spreading process twice for each fold i.e. spread ghee, sprinkle flour, spread ghee sprinkle flour and then fold. Over baking will destroy the flavor and layers of bakarkhani, so be cautious and keep an eye.
Enjoy until next time!
- 2 cups flour, plus more for spreading on the dough during the rolling process
- ¼ cup mawa
- ¼ cup ghee/clarified butter, plus more for spreading on the dough during the rolling process
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ⅔ cups + 3 tablespoon water
- Sesame seeds, to sprinkle
- For mawa:
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ½ cup powdered milk
- Steps to make mawa(cheese dust):
- Heat butter in a nonstick pan over medium low heat.
- Once butter melts, add the dry powdered milk.
- Stir constantly to form a coarse dust and until slightly golden and aromatic. Set aside.
- An alternate way of making mawa : Cook chana in low heat until it changes color to slightly golden. Cool completely and grind in a food processor to a coarse dust.
- Steps to prepare bakarkhani:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make dough with flour, mawa, salt, sugar and ghee. Add the water little by little, about a tablespoonful at a time to make a stretchy dough.
- Knead well and cover with a wet cloth or wet paper towel for at least 30 minutes.
- Apply some ghee over the dough and keep aside for another ten to fifteen minutes.
- Apply ghee on a long rolling board and a rolling pin.
- Divide the dough into two portions.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible in the long board without adding any flour.
- Take some ghee on our fingers and spread over the rolled dough.
- Sprinkle some flour over the oil so spreading the flour dries out the oil.
- Apply ghee, and then spread flour evenly one more time.
- Fold the dough into half and apply the ghee and flour spreading process twice as step 8 to 10.
- Fold the dough for the second time and repeat the ghee and flour spreading process twice.
- Gently roll the dough. Take small balls from the roll and roll in into small breads.
- Repeat steps 14 to 20 with the second dough.
- Make three cuts with a knife for each piece.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds on each bread piece.
- Bake 22-25 minutes or until it light brown.
When rolling the dough first time, try to roll the dough thin so that you are able to see the board through it.
Before each fold, the ghee and flour spreading process should be applied twice i.e. spread ghee, sprinkle flour, spread ghee sprinkle flour and then fold.
Over baking will destroy the flavor and layers of bakarkhani, so be cautious.
Please take into consideration that many factors such as quality and type of ingredients, time and temperature influence the outcome of a recipe.
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রেসিপি: বাকরখানি
উপকরণ :
২ কাপ ময়দা, খামিরের উপর ছড়ানোর জন্য কিছু বেশী
১/৪ কাপ মাওয়া
১/৪ কাপ ঘি, খামিরের উপর ছড়ানোর জন্য কিছু বেশী
১/৪ চা চামচ লবণ
১/২ চা চামচ চিনি
২/৩ কাপ + ৩ টেবিল চামচ পানি
তিল, বাকরখানির উপর ছিটিয়ে দেয়ার জন্য
মাওয়ার জন্য:
১ টেবিল চামচ ঘি
১/২ কাপ গুড়াদুধ
মাওয়া প্রস্তত প্রণালী:
১. মাঝারি কম তাপে ননস্টিক প্যান ঘি সামান্য গরম করে নিন।
২. ঘি গলে গেলে গুড়াদুধ যোগ করে ক্রমাগত নাড়তে থাকুন।
৩. সামান্য সোনালী বণর্ ও সুগন্ধময় হলে নামিয়ে নিন।
৪. মাওয়া ছানা দিয়েও তৈরী করা যায়। সামান্য সোনালী রং না হওয়া পর্যন্ত কম তাপে ছানা নাড়তে থাকুন। ঠান্ডা হলে গুড়া করে নিন।
বাকরখানি প্রস্তত প্রণালী:
১. ওভেন ৩২৫ ডিগ্রী ফারেনহাইটে প্রিহিট করুন।
২. ময়দা, মাওয়া , লবণ , চিনি এবং ঘি একসাথে মিশিয়ে নিন। আস্তে আস্তে ১ টেবিল চামচ করে পানি দিয়ে দিয়ে খামির তৈরী করুন।
৩. ভালভাবে খািমর মথে অন্তত ৩০ মিনিটের জন্য একটি ভেজা কাপড় বা ভেজা কাগজ গামছা দিয়ে মুড়িয়ে রাখুন।
৪. আধা ঘন্টা পর খামিরের উপর কিছু ঘি মাখিয়ে দশ থেকে পনের মিনিটের জন্য সরিয়ে রাখুন।
৫. একটি বড় পিড়া ও বেলনীতে ঘি মাখিয়ে নিন।
৬. খামির দুই ভাগে ভাগ করে নিন।
৭. কোন ময়দা না দিয়ে যত সম্ভব পাতলা করে খামিরের একভাগ দিয়ে রুটি তৈরী করে নিন।
৮. আঙ্গুলে কিছু ঘি নিয়ে রুটির উপর মাখিয়ে দিন।
৯. এবার ঘিয়ের উপর কিছু ময়দা ছিটিয়ে দিন।
১০. আবার ঘি ও ময়দা ছড়িয়ে রুটি ভাজ করুন।
১১. ৮ থেকে ১০ ধাপের পুনরাবৃত্তি করে রুটি দ্বিতীয়বার ভাঁজ করুন।
১২. আবার ঘি ও ময়দা দুইবার ছড়িয়ে দিন।
১৩. আলতোভাবে রুটি রোল করুন ও রোল থেকে ছোট ছোট বল নিয়ে রুটি বানিয়ে নিন।
১৪. খামিরের দ্বিতিয় ভাগ দিয়ে ধাপ ৭ থেকে ১৩’র পুনরাবৃত্তি করুন।
১৫. একটি ছুরি দিয়ে বাকরখানির মাঝে তিনটি দাগ দিয়ে নিন।
১৬. বাকরখানির উপর তিল ছিটিয়ে ২০-২৫ মিনিট বা বাদামী না হওয়া পর্যন্ত বেক করুন।
প্রয়োজনিও কিছু টিপস্ এর জনে্য দয়াকরে আটির্কেল অথবা ইংরেজি রেসিপির নোট সেকশনটা একটু দেখে নেবেন।
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have heard a lot about this dish but never had any chance to taste. The history behind is very interesting too. lovely read and awesome clicks.
Sad but a great love story. Now that you have the recipe, you can try this legendary bakarkhani. Thank you, Sayantani.
Looks delicious. I’ll have to try it soon!
You won’t regret it. Would love to know how it turns out for you.
Never seen such glamorous Bakhorkhanis! How incredibly inviting they look! Thanks a bunch for the history behind it. And hats off to your gutsy efforts in making Bakhorkhanis at home 🙂
Gorgeous images.
Thank you for the heart warming comment, Nusrat. Making the bakarkhanis was a labor of love to highlight one of the traditional Bangladeshi item 🙂
I do love bakorkhani but have never tried making them at home. Your’s look just like the ones my in-laws send me from old town whenever I am visiting Dhaka. I like to dunk mine in a hot cup of tea 🙂
As they say, Bakarkhani goes best with tea. Thank you, my friend.
I love the story behind the bread, it looks really delicious. Bring more of these traditional cuisine Lail, thanks to you I learn a lot of bangladeshi cuisine 🙂
Thanks to you too, my friend for being a constant inspiration, kind, heart warming thoughts. Thank you.
This is a new dish to me, and one that looks utterly delilsh! Love the story behind the bread. great post – thanks so much.
Thanks John.
Thanks for the history lesson, I love your blog for teaching me about the Bangladeshi cuisine 🙂
Thank you, Farhana. I am glad and humbled to be able to help.
What a pretty food styling, Lail! I love flatbreads…I would love to try this one.
Thank you, Denise. I do hope you get to give this a try soon. Thank you, dear.
ohh, this looks so good. I have never made this and I can’t wait to. I love the history behind it.
You’ve baked this one, interesting. Thanks for a great recipe, after being introduced through Denise, I am loving the new dishes here.
Glad to have you here. I hope you would give this a try and when you try, I would love to know. Thank you so much.
This layered bread sounds terrific! And the sprinkling of sesame seeds is such a nice finishing touch!
Thank you, Liz. The original bread usually do not use sesame seeds, it’s my spin to the recipe. Glad you like it. Thanks again.
This bread looks amazing and your photos look beautiful!
Thanks for your sweet words Anne.
What a beautiful story behind the bread, never heard it but thank you for sharing !
You are welcome, Simi. Thanks for stopping by.
Ma usually makes the deep fried version of it but I like that you baked it. Perfect with a cup tea on the side!
Perfect during tea time indeed. Thank you, Kankana.
What a delicious looks bread!!
Thank you!
Delicious looking bread… Glad to follow you 🙂
Thank you, Sowmya. Hope to have you come back many more times 🙂
Love learning about new food and traditions, Lail. Bring it on more 🙂
Glad to know, Kiran. Thanks a lot, my friend.
A wonderful speciality! Those flatbreads look delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
The crisp and a melt in the mouth texture makes bakarkhani irresistible. Thank you, Rosa.
Wonderful, I am looking for this. I will try once. I eat yesterday bakarkhani with tea. Oh, the test is still in my mouth! Thanks.
Can’t wait to try the original Bakarkhani from old Dhaka next time we visit Bangladesh 🙂 Would love to know when you try.
Oh my, it has been over a decade since I had a bakorkhani! I used to dislike them as a child because I found them to be too crumbly. And somehow I have always associated them with family-friends of Pathan & Afghan descent and assumed that is where it originates from. So interesting to know the real history behind them!
I’ve had bakarkhani after over a decade until I made them few weeks ago. It does have an interesting history, indeed 🙂 Wish it was a happy love story 🙂
Although I haven’t had a chance to try Bakarkhani before, it looks delicious and would love to taste it! 🙂
Bakarkhani is uniquely delicious. I hope you get to try sometimes, Nami. I’m sure you’ll love it. Thank you.
wonderfully rich bread…some years before we tasted this for the first time and ever since it is one of our favorites…great food clicks 🙂
Thank you, Kumar. Glad that Bakarkhani is in your favorite food list. Awesome.
Never had bakarkhani before, but yours looks delicious! Wish I could have a taste of it!
I would invite you over anytime. Just let me know 🙂
Thank you.
I love flatbreads like this, especially when there are sesame seeds involved!
I love sesame seeds as well. The original recipe actually doesn’t use the seeds but I thought of incorporating. Glad we have similar tastes.
Love your presentation. I love flat breads too. I have never tasted this one but it looks delicious!
Thank you, Beth. Your words mean so much to me. I hope to see you around, again.
Our Kashmiri Bakarkhani is slightly different from the Dhaka one and uses poppy seeds. I love the fact that you recreated a legendary bread at home!! Crumbly flaky deliciousness!
I never had a chance to taste the Kashmiri Bakarkhani. Hope I get to try it sometimes. I love poppy seeds and would be a great topping for the flatbreads. Thank you for stopping by.
I’m about to make this bread! Love the shape. I am so excited to try it!
Daniela – I am as excited as you are. Thank you for trying. Can’t wait to learn how you like the taste of the bread. Also, I love to share photos on FB when some one tries a recipe from the blog. If you take any photos of the bread on please feel free to share on – https://www.facebook.com/WithASpin
Thank you!