Bakarkhani

BakarkhaniorBaqarkhaniorBakorkhonialso known asbakarkhani roti, is a thick, spicedflat-breadthat is part of theMughlai cuisine.Bakarkhani is prepared on certainMuslimreligious festivals inSouth Asiaand is now popular as sweet bread.
Bakarkhani is almostbiscuit-like in texture, with a hard crust. The chief ingredients are flour,semolina, sugar,molassessoaked insaffron,poppyornigella seeds, salt, andghee(clarified butter).
A legend attributes the bread's name toMirza Agha Baqer, a son-in-law ofMurshid Quli Khan II.According to the legend, Baqer, a general based inChittagongunder NawabSiraj ud-Daulahof Bengal, falls in love with a dancer called Khani Begum fromArambagh, who was also eyed by Zaynul Khan, the city'skotwaland the son of awazir. Zaynul attempts to attack Khani for rejecting him, and Baker intervenes, defeating Zaynul in aswordfight. 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 forSouth Bengal. The battle continues there as Baker arrives to rescue Khani. In another brawl oftalwars, Jahandar accidentally kills Zaynul, after Zaynul inadvertently murders Khani. Khani is later buried in Bakla-Chandradwip (Patuakhali-Barisal). Baker Khan builds a tomb over her grave and Bakla-Chandradwip would be renamedBakerganjafter him.Baker was already familiar with this area as he was ajagirdarinBarisal's Salimabad and Umedpurparganas.The tragic love story of Baker Khan and Khani Begum inspired the bakers to name his favourite breadBakerkhani.Dhaka's first bakarkhani shop opened in close proximity toLalbagh Fortand many of the city's bakarkhani sellers originate from theSylhet Division.
TheBengal Subah, specifically Mughal Dhaka, was a hub for merchants from all parts ofthe subcontinentand even as far as theMiddle EastandArmenia. Through trade and travel, the bakarkhani became popular outside ofBengalin places such asKashmir,Bihar,LucknowandHyderabad.
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 ofDhaka"and according to other scholars, "Bakorkhoni gives Old Dhaka a unique and distinct culinary identity".According toHakim Habibur Rahman, Bakorkhoni could not be found in anywhere else than Dhaka during the colonial period.
Bakarkhani is made by kneading together flour, ghee, in some casescardamom, 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 atandoorortawagirdle.
It is also known asshukha(meaning 'dry')naanorshukha rotidue to its dry texture.Hakim Habibur Rahman, author ofDhaka 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 ofSylhetandChittagongresemble a sweet and syrupyporota,whilst the Bakarkhani ofDinajpuris thick and doughy and often contains pieces ofmorobba.
There is also aKashmirivariant of bakarkhaniwhich is a thinner variety, similar to roundnaanin appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled withsesame seeds.It is typically consumed hot, during breakfast, often withnoon chai.
Bakarkhani is mentioned in lines of aBengalipoem byPratul Mukhopadhyay: