Bakarkhani or Baqerkhani are a type of layered bread from Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

, similar to paratha

Paratha

A paratha/parantha/parauntha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough...

s or phyllo

Phyllo

Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine.-History:An early, thick form of phyllo appears to be of Central Asian Turkic origin...

 breads. It most likely originated in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and eventually spread to Kashmir. The Bangladeshi antecedent may also have come from the Afghan/Kashmir region, as narrated in the legend below. The name Bakarkhani appears only in Kashmir and Bangladesh, though the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n paratha may have similar origins. It is worth noting that the Pakistani baqarkhani is a phyllo puff-pastry which closely resembles a croissant. The bread is made by stretching a sheet of dough repeatedly and interleaving with ghee before baking on a tandoor

Tandoor

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...

 or tawa

Tawa

Tawa may refer to:*Tava, an Indian cooking implement*Tawa , after which the New Zealand suburb is named*A early variation on the name of the Ottawa tribe*Tawa , a solar deity in Pueblo mythology; see also List of solar deities...

.

A related bread, the sheermal, is also present in Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh.

Kashmiri Baqerkhani

Kashmiri Baqerkhani has a special place in Kashmiri cuisine. It is a thinner variety similar to a round naan in appearance, but crisp and layered, and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Traditionally Sufi (bakers) lighted their Tandoor

Tandoor

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...

 ovens before morning prayers to have the product available by morning. Bakarkhani dough of white flour and aya (that works similar to yeast)] is kneaded well and stretched thin by hand over the entire span of wooden board. Then after spreading ghee

Ghee

Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....

 over it, flour is strewn on and it is folded and the process repeated several times. After sizeable numbers of such small dough are ready, they are made into round bread on the board and sesame

Sesame

Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....

 (til) seeds are spread on it. The round bread are then put inside the tandoor. During the process of baking, egg may be sprinkled, that turns it red.
The Kashmiri Baqerkhani is typically consumed hot during breakfast.

Dhakai Bakarkhani

The Dhakai bakarkhani is somewhat thicker, more like a biscuit

Biscuit

A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....

. Stacks of Bakarkhani lined up at bakeries is a common sight in old Dhaka

Dhaka

Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

. It is often eaten with kabab.

Hakim Habibur Rahman

Hakim Habibur Rahman

Hakim Habibur Rahman was an Unani physician, litterateur, journalist, politician and chronicler in early 20th-century Dhaka, Bangladesh....

 in his book “Dhaka pachash barash pahley” published in the 1940s gives a detail account of the variety of original food items of Dhaka and its preparation. He said, the unique feature of Dhaka was that though rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 is the staple food, the varieties of 'roti

Roti

Roti is generally a South Asian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also consumed in parts of the Southern Caribbean, particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and...

' (bread) available were simply amazing and every roti has a history and ancestry of its own. Shirmal has basic ingredients of flour and semolina

Semolina

Semolina is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta, and also used for breakfast cereals and puddings. Semolina is also used to designate coarse middlings from other varieties of wheat, and from other grains such as rice and corn.-Name:The term semolina derives from...

 (suji), Persian background, it was soft and thick, whereas, Bakarkhani made of white flour and ‘mawa

Mawa

Mama may refer to:* Mawa, Bangladesh* the Mawa Clawed Frog, a species of frog endemic to Cameroon* Orang Mawas, a proposed hominid cryptid reported to inhabit the jungle of Johor in Malaysia* Mawa language ,...

’ is thin, crisp and melts down in mouth, it is known as ‘sukha ruti’.

Other Types of Bakarkhani

Cheese bakarkhani was another delicacy. In every fold, instead of ghee and flour ‘mohanbhog’ mishti or semolina (suji) halwa was used. These breads known as ‘bhigaroti or bhijaroti’ are sent on ‘dalas’ (high rim trays) dipped in creamy milk with almond and raisins from the house of the bride to the groom as part of a traditional matrimonial ritual.

The Legend of Bakarkhani

Nazir Hossain, in his book Kingbadantir Dhaka (Dhaka of legends), tells the story how during Siraj-ud-daulah's reign (1800s), his general in the Chitttagong area, Aga Bakar, fell in love with a dancer of Arambag

Arambag

Arambag is a town and a municipality in Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the head quarter of Arambagh subdivision.-Geography:...

 called Khani Begum. However, another official Jainul Khan also had an eye on her, and attempted to take her away by force. Learning this Aga Bakar went to her rescue, and Jainul fled. A rumour spread that Aga Bakar had assassinated Jainul and hidden his dead body. Both Khani Begum and Aga Bakar were arrested and taken to Murshid Quli’s court. Murshid Quli Khan

Murshid Quli Khan

Murshid Quli Khan was the first Nawab of Bengal. In fact circumstances resulted in his being the first independent ruler of Bengal post the death of Emperor Aurangzeb...

 gave the death sentence to Aga Bakar and put him in a cage with a tiger. Somehow Aga Bakar succeeded in killing it and escaped. Meanwhile, Jainul abducted Khani and fled to the Sunderbans, but he killed her when they were about to be caught. After her death Aga Bakar perpetuated her memory by preparing the specially prepared bread 'bakar-khani'. But in Chittagong , Port City of Bangladesh, 'bakar-khani' like sweet paratha. After made of paratha, it will sink into sugar sirka (sugar melted).