What bakhoor is, and how to burn it safely

What it actually is

Small chips of wood soaked in fragrant oils and resins and left to cure. Heat them — not burn them to ash, heat them — and the oils lift off as scented smoke. That smoke settles into curtains, carpets and clothes, which is why a room keeps the fragrance for hours after the burner has gone cold.

It is not incense in the agarbatti sense. There is no stick, nothing to light directly, and it is not meant to burn for an hour. A single chip gives ten to fifteen minutes of smoke and scents a whole room.

What you need

• A burner. Either the traditional kind that holds a charcoal disc, or an electric one that warms a small plate.
• Charcoal, if your burner is the traditional kind. The quick-light discs sold for hookah work.
• Tongs — never fingers.

If you are buying your first burner and will use it indoors with children about, buy the electric one. There is no flame, no charcoal smoke, and you can put it down anywhere. The scent is a little softer; the trade is worth it.

How to burn it — charcoal

1. Hold the charcoal disc with tongs and light one edge. It will spark across itself.
2. Wait. Let it burn until it is covered in grey ash all over — three or four minutes. Charcoal that is still black will scorch the chip and give you smoke that smells burnt rather than fragrant.
3. Set it in the burner, ash side up.
4. Place one small chip on top. Not three. One.
5. Carry the burner slowly through the rooms you want scented, or set it down somewhere central and open an inside door.
6. When the smoke stops, it is finished. Let the burner go completely cold before putting it away.

How to burn it — electric

1. Switch it on and give it a minute to warm.
2. Put one chip on the plate.
3. Leave it for ten to fifteen minutes, then switch off.

Some plates sit close to the element and will scorch a chip. If the smell turns sharp, use a smaller piece or a scrap of foil underneath.

Safety, plainly

• Never leave a lit burner alone in a room, and never in a room with a small child or a cat in it.
• Keep it well away from curtains, bedding and anything else that catches.
• Stand it on something heatproof. A charcoal burner gets hot enough to mark a table.
• Let the air move. A window on the latch is enough. A sealed room full of smoke is unpleasant and, for anybody with asthma, worse than unpleasant.
• Charcoal stays hot long after it looks dead. Leave it in the burner until it is cold rather than tipping it into a bin.

When people burn it

Before guests arrive, so the house greets them. On Friday mornings. After cleaning, when the house smells of nothing. Through an open wardrobe so clothes carry it for days. At a wedding, where it is passed between guests to scent their clothes.

Which one to start with

We keep five, all 40 g at ₹499, which is a good many evenings:

• Al Noor — soft, clean and light. The one to start with, and the one for daytime and before prayer.
• Al Kaaf — deep and smooth in the old Arabian way, unhurried, for an ordinary evening.
• Amber Oud — golden amber and smoky oud. Rich and resinous; it stays on curtains.
• Khamrah — sweet amber, vanilla and warm spice, from our best-known fragrance.
• Amir Al Oud — smoky agarwood and vanilla. The occasion one: Fridays and celebrations.

If you are buying for somebody else and do not know their taste, Al Noor is the safe choice. It is hard to dislike and hard to overdo.

Common questions

How long does one box last?

40 g is a lot of chips, and one chip scents a room. Burned a few times a week, a box lasts most homes a couple of months.

Will the smell stay in my clothes?

Yes, and that is usually the intention. Hold a garment over the smoke for a few seconds, or leave the wardrobe open while it burns.

Can I burn it without a burner?

Not well, and not safely. The chip needs to be heated from below, not set alight.

Is bakhoor the same as oud?

Oud is agarwood — one of the things bakhoor can be scented with, and the most prized. Bakhoor is the burnable chip; oud is a note in it.

My bakhoor smells burnt. What went wrong?

Almost always charcoal used too early, before it ashed over. Wait for the grey, and use a smaller chip.