Like many people I’ve been trying to create a sourdough starter to bake bread from. I started from this recipe/instructions. When I got to my first harvest, the starter didn’t look like it was quite ready. So I tried a sourdough/yeast hybrid instead.
I’ve kept feeding my starter and using bits of the discard for different things. First, I tried pizza crust. The results were really tasty. The crust came out super crunchy which I haven’t been able to accomplish before
The rest of the things I’ve tried were flatbreads. Because these require very little rise, I’ve been really successful with using my starter to make a variety of flatbreads. First I tried making corn tortillas. Using the tortilla press to get them “rolled out” was a little tricky. They can stick to the press if you don’t wrap the press in plastic wrap to keep them from sticking. Also the best way to cook them is in a cast iron pan. You don’t use any oil in the pan and you want to pre-heat the pan so it is up to temperature before you cook the tortillas.
Besides tortillas, I also decided to try to make an Indian flatbread. There are a large variety of different Indian flatbreads which use different types of flour, cooking techniques, fillings, and leavening. My spouse likes naan but it uses yeast and I didn’t have the time to wait for naan to proof. Instead I decided to try making roti. Roti is an unleavened Indian flatbread which is made with a stone ground whole wheat flour called atta flour. There are several different varieties of roti. Some are cooked in a tandoor. Others are cooked on an iron griddle using a variety of techniques. One technique is to “puff” the roti by pulling it off the griddle before it cooks completely. Since I was using a cast iron pan to cook my roti this meant flipping the roti repeatedly as it cooked.
This dough was super easy to create and work with. So I’ll likely make it again but try a different variety. Either tandoori roti or paratha. For the tandoor roti I’ll use grill and a pizza stone. For the paratha, I’ll need to switch to using all purpose flour and mix in a filling such as cheese or spinach.