Bakarkhani (Bread-Makers)



Bakharkhani is very famous in old dhaka.Whenever i went to the old dhaka, i ate bakharkhani. And i also sometime take it when i back home from old dhaka. Actually when i went to my friend house in old dhaka i saw shop of bakharkhani most of the places. And also there was bakharkhani made.Bakarkhani is a traditional food/snack of the people of Old Dhaka. It is a very popular snack among all Bangladeshis. There was a great demand for it in the Royal court of the Mughal Empire in Delhi. It came to Old Dhaka when a certain Chief Officer came to stay in Old Dhaka and brought with him a young boy who could make Bakarkhani.

In the past, the bakarkhaniwalas (bread-makers) used to lit up tandoor after midnight to bring out product by morning. Bakarkhani dough of white flour and mawa thoroughly mixed and kneaded for hours before stretching thin by hand over the entire span of wooden board. Then after spreading ghee over it, flour is strewn on. It was folded and process repeated several times. After sizeable numbers of such small dough are ready, they are made into roti on the board and sesame (teel) seeds are spread on it. The rotis are then put inside the tandoor. During the process of baking, pure milk is sprinkled on them twice. This is the story of making pure bakarkhanis. But now in place of ghee and milk, molasses solution is added so that the bread turns reddish.

Even now, bakarkhani is mainly baked in Old Dhaka. From there it is distributed in different shops in different parts of the city. Most of the Bakarkhaniwalas belong from the family of Bakarkhaniwalas, meaning that their father was also a Bakarkhaniwala.

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