English
বাংলা
The story
Chattogram has had bakers for a very long time. As a port it hosted Portuguese traders from the sixteenth century and later a Mughal garrison, and both brought a taste for bread and biscuits. Local historians link the city's baking trade to families who came from Burdwan, and name Lal Khan Subedar and his son Kanu Khan Mistri as early bakers. Their descendant Abdul Gani Showdagar founded Gani Bakery at Chandanpura, on College Road; sources put its start in the 1870s or 1880s, and the junction outside is still known by the bakery's name.
Nobody is quite sure where the name bela comes from. The writer Abul Fazal, in a 1966 memoir, recorded that the biscuit was named after a Chandanpura biscuit seller called Belayet Ali, and that explanation is the one most often repeated. During the Second World War Gani Bakery is said to have supplied breakfast to army camps between Chattogram and Arakan, and bela biscuit with bread became standard soldiers' fare. In 1945 Abdul Gani made the bakery a waqf, a religious endowment that cannot be sold, and it has passed down the family since.
Today many bakeries in Chattogram make bela biscuit, but Gani Bakery's version remains the benchmark. It still bakes in a traditional clay oven, leaves the dough to ferment for about a day using its own starter, called mawa, rather than commercial yeast, and offers plain, butter and rose versions. The biscuit is a fixture of Chattogram's tea stalls and drawing rooms, and a packet is a common gift to take home from the city.
How to spot the real Chattogram bela biscuit
Bela biscuit is oval to round, flat and fairly thick, pale gold to light brown, with a slightly blistered, dry surface. It is hard and crisp right through, and snaps cleanly rather than bending or crumbling to dust; inside you should see a fine, layered, slightly airy texture from the long fermentation. It is only mildly sweet with a faint malty, yeasty aroma, and it is meant to be dunked: a good one softens in hot tea without falling apart at once. Soft, buttery or very sweet biscuits sold under the name are a different thing. Several bakeries use similar packaging, so read the bakery name and address on the packet if you want a particular maker, and remember that no outside body certifies who makes the real one.
Buying tips
Bela biscuit is a dry, sturdy product, so it ships well anywhere in the country. Ask the seller which bakery made it, when it was baked, and whether the packet is sealed; older stock goes stale and loses its snap. Ask how it will be packed, since a loose packet can arrive as crumbs if it is not boxed. Price depends on the bakery, the type (plain, butter or rose) and the number of pieces per packet, so compare packet sizes rather than prices alone.
On Midmart each shop decides and charges its own delivery fee, so a parcel from a Chattogram bakery and another from a different shop are two separate deliveries. Midmart never takes payment or handles shipping: you and the seller agree both directly. Midmart cannot vouch for which bakery made any listing, so ask before you order.
Keeping it fresh
Keep bela biscuit in an airtight tin or jar away from damp; once a packet is opened, transfer the rest straight away, because humid air softens it within a day or two. Stored this way it stays crisp for a few weeks. If it softens, a few minutes in a low oven or a dry pan brings back some of the crunch.
Find Chattogram bela biscuit on Midmart
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Shops from where it is made
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