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Bakarkhani
বাকরখানি (bakarkhani): Old Dhaka's crisp, many-layered ghee bread for dunking in tea
Before dawn in Lalbagh and Nazira Bazar, bakers slap rounds of dough onto the inside walls of clay tandoors, and by sunrise stacks of bakarkhani are wrapped in newspaper for the first cup of milky tea. The Old Dhaka kind is small, about the size of a palm, with dozens of paper-thin layers that shatter at the edges and stay a little tender in the middle; the faintly sweet, buttery taste is what makes it so good dipped in cha or crumbled over a bowl of firni. Local legend ties the name to a Mughal-era romance, but the technique is pure bakery craft: the dough is spread with a ghee paste, rolled up, coiled and rolled again. Most failed batches come from soft, warm ghee paste, which soaks into the dough instead of sitting between the layers. Chef's tip: chill the rolled coils for 15 minutes before the final rolling so the fat sets and the layers stay separate in the oven.
- Total time
- 105 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the dough
- 10 ½ oz plain flourplus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 ⅜ oz gheemelted
- ¼ cup whole milkwarm
- ¼ cup waterwarm, roughly
For the layering paste
- 1 ¾ oz gheesoft but not melted
- 1 tbsp plain flour
To finish
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds (optional)
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Method
0/10 doneStep 1: Mix 10 ½ oz plain flour, 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar in a bowl, rub in 1 ⅜ oz ghee with your fingertips until it feels like damp sand, then add ¼ cup whole milk and enough ¼ cup water to make a firm dough.
3 minStep 2: Knead on the worktop for 8 minutes until smooth and stiffer than chapati dough, then cover and rest for 30 minutes.
8 minStep 3: Beat 1 ¾ oz ghee with 1 tbsp plain flour to a smooth, spreadable paste and keep it somewhere cool.
2 minStep 4: Roll the dough into a thin rectangle about 40 × 30 cm, spread the paste evenly over it and roll it up tightly from a long side into a rope.
4 minStep 5: Cut the rope into 12 pieces, stand each on its end, press it flat into a coil and chill on a tray for 15 minutes.
3 minStep 6: Heat the oven to 450°F (fan 400°F) with a baking stone or heavy upturned tray inside for at least 20 minutes.
5 minStep 7: Roll each coil out to a 10 cm round about 4 mm thick, then make three shallow parallel slashes across the top with a knife.
5 minStep 8: Brush the rounds with 2 tbsp whole milk and scatter with 1 tsp white sesame seeds if using.
Step 9: Slide the rounds onto the hot stone in batches and bake for 12–14 minutes until the bottoms are golden and the tops are blistered and pale gold.
14 minStep 10: Cool on a rack; they crisp as they cool and keep for a week in an airtight tin.
30 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 340 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bakarkhani take?
- About 105 minutes in total: 75 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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