Bakarkhani

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tbspsugar
• 60 gghee, melted
• 250 mlwarm milk

Layering

• 150 gghee, softened
• 60 gplain flour

To finish

• 2 tbspmilk, for brushing
• 1 tbspsugar (for the sweet version)
• 1 tspnigella or sesame seeds

Directions

1. Rub the melted ghee into the flour, salt and sugar, then bring together with the warm milk into a firm dough — noticeably stiffer than a bread dough. Knead 8 minutes, cover and rest 1 hour.
2. Beat the softened ghee with the 60 g of flour to a spreadable paste.
3. Divide the dough into 4. Roll each as thin as you can manage, brush all over with the ghee paste, then fold in three like a letter, turn 90 degrees, and roll out again. Repeat this fold and roll three times per piece.
4. The repeated laminating is the entire point of bakarkhani. Each fold multiplies the layers, and a bread folded once has none of the flaking that makes it what it is.
5. Chill the folded pieces 20 minutes so the ghee firms.
6. Divide into 8, roll each into an oval about 1 cm thick — deliberately thick, because bakarkhani is a substantial dry bread, not a flatbread.
7. Score the surface in a criss-cross or fan pattern with a sharp knife, cutting a few millimetres deep, and prick all over with a fork so it does not balloon.
8. Brush with milk, scatter with seeds and sugar if making the sweet version, and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 22–25 minutes until firm, dry and pale gold.
9. Cool completely on a rack. It should be hard and crisp, and it keeps for a week or more — this is a bread designed to last, eaten broken into hot tea.

Technique

• Do not aim for softness. A soft bakarkhani has been under-baked; the finished bread should knock like a biscuit.
• Prick thoroughly. Unpricked, the layers separate into a hollow dome instead of staying compact.
• Ghee, not butter or oil. The flavour of Old Dhaka bakarkhani is largely ghee.

Substitutions

• Butter can replace ghee, though the bread is less fragrant and browns faster.
• Milk can be replaced with water for a plainer, harder bread.

Variations

• Sweet bakarkhani, heavier on sugar and finished with a sugar glaze.
• Nimak bakarkhani, the salty version eaten with meat curries.

History

Old Dhaka bread named after Aga Bakar Khan, a Mughal-era officer; bakeries in Chawkbazar still bake it in tandoors before dawn.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bakarkhani?

Bakarkhani is a bread & pastry from Bangladesh: thick layered dry bread stamped and baked hard, eaten with tea. Old Dhaka bread named after Aga Bakar Khan, a Mughal-era officer; bakeries in Chawkbazar still bake it in tandoors before dawn.

How long does Bakarkhani take to make?

Bakarkhani takes 40 min plus 1 hr resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 breads. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Bakarkhani?

Yes, within limits. Butter can replace ghee, though the bread is less fragrant and browns faster. Milk can be replaced with water for a plainer, harder bread.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bakarkhani?

The repeated laminating is the entire point of bakarkhani. Each fold multiplies the layers, and a bread folded once has none of the flaking that makes it what it is.