As mentioned in the previous post, I have tried out 2 Sourdough (SD) starter recipes in my life. Please read the post on  Sourdough Starter – Method 1, BEFORE reading this post because that will give you detailed information on what a SD starter is all about and also tips and starter maintenance guidelines.

This post is a continuation of the previous one and I have segregated it in order to keep the 2 methods separate. Please be aware that there are several ways of making SD starters and what I am documenting are merely my experiences.

This recipe uses Fruit yeast water as compared to the more often used plain water SD starter recipes.

So read on for Method 2.

SD Starter Method 2 –

So if Method 1 worked well for me, why did I attempt a Method 2? Well since I had murdered my original starter due to sheer neglect, I had to start from scratch all over again.

And during this period of Corona lockdown, fresh pineapples which the starter needed, were not readily available and hence I had to resort to an alternate process.

Getting some readymade starter from my bread guru Ponnanna, was an option but I did not choose to utilize a delivery service for a non essential ingredient in this situation. Hence I was compelled to make the effort and with Ponanna’s able and patient direction, I got the new one alive and kicking and unduly hyper enthusiastic (which is a good thing :-D)

Being an impatient person myself, I asked him for a super quick recipe and that clever chap smartly did a Modi on me by saying ‘Just a few days more, just a few days more’, a la the lockdown :-D
But the final outcome was this gorgeous starter (let us hope the outcome of our lockdown will be equally successful)

This recipe renders relatively quick results because we have started with what is called fruit yeast water. Most SD starter recipes use plain drinking water but this one begins with creating a fermented water using fruit and then this water is then used to make the starter and is said to yield faster and more guaranteed results.

Many types of fruits are conducive to create yeast water and grapes and raisins head the list in terms of efficacy. However, all I had was banana and watermelon, both of which were suitable and I went with the banana. The one I used was the small Yelakki variety.

Equipment – 

2 clean glass jars. Jars to have a wide mouth and preferably a minimum of 500 ml capacity (I prefer glass to plastic).

Ingredients –

For the fruit yeast water –

Whole Banana – 1 – small Yelakki variety. You can use any ripe banana, watermelon, strawberry etc.

Clean water – around 200 gm or enough to submerge the fruit.

For the SD starter –

Maida (All Purpose Flour) – follow the quantities in the instructions

Fruit yeast water – follow the quantities in the instructions

Drinking water – follow the quantities in the instructions

Procedure for fruit yeast water –

1 – On Day 1, take a clean glass jar/bottle with a wide mouth and preferably a minimum of 500 ml capacity.

2 – Wash with plain water and peel the banana and roughly break into 2-3 pieces.

3 – Add the fruit and entire skin into the bottle.

4 – Pour the 200 gm or enough water to fully submerge the banana. Close the lid tightly and keep at room temperature.

5 – Shake the bottle 2 – 3 times through the day.

6 – After 24 – 36 hours, you should see some bubbles in the water. It does not look very pretty but do not bother about the aesthetics or lack thereof 😀

7. If not, please wait till the water turns fizzy. If your fruit starts rotting for any reason, then discard and start over. You should be able to sense that by the smell.

8. Strain out the fruit and discard. It definitely looks gross but try to ignore it 😀

9. Retain the water for the rest of the recipe. Strain the water to get rid of small particles if any.

10. Store the extra water if any, for a couple of days in the fridge till your SD starter looks like it is successfully starting off. The extra water can then be discarded.

Procedure for SD starter –

I am mentioning the exact timelines the exact that I followed, just to make it easy for you to comprehend. You can start at any time, morning or night as per your convenience.

The basic idea is to create a mixture of the fruit yeast water and flour. This is then fed every 12 hours with equal weights of flour and plain water. And at every feed, some amount is removed as discard. This process is continued until the fed mixture eventually and consistently doubles in volume within at least 6 hours.

The step by step process and pictures are given below.

DAY 1

10 pm –

1st feed –

In a glass bottle, add 100 gm maida (APF) to 100 gm of the fruit yeast water and mix well. Cover and set aside for 12 hours at room temperature. Mark the level with a sticker on the bottle.

I have photographed the various stages every 12 hours.

DAY 2

Photo at 10 am –

After the first 12 hours, the fruit yeast water and flour mix usually tends to double. This is just the beginning of the activity and is seen only on the first day. The next feed will not show such a vigorous rise because the mix requires a few days to stabilize and double consistently.

10.10 am –

Perform the 2nd feed –

Now remove half of the mix (ie 100 gm) into a clean bowl and add 50 gm of Maida and 50 gm of water. Mix well and refill into another clean glass bottle and close. Mark the level with a sticker or marker pen.

The remaining mix is the discard. I do not throw it but use it to make roti etc.

Photo at 10.00 pm –

This is how the mix looks 12 hours later at 10.00 pm on Day 2. There is no change in volume.

10.10 pm

Perform the 3rd feed –

Now perform the same feeding process as above, which you did at 10.10 am.

Repeat this process every 12 hours for 4 – 5 days and constantly observe the volume of the mix via the marker.

The mix increases in volume gradually with every feed, as the fermentation kicks in.

The process will continue until the mix eventually doubles in volume in a duration of around 6 hours. Now your starter is ready to be used in bakes.

This took me 5 days but the time taken will depend on several factors and is not a constant for everyone.

Day 3 – 

Photo at 10.00 am –

This is how the mix looks 12 hours later at 10.00 am on Day 3. There is no change in volume.

 

10.10 am – 

Perform the 4th feed –

Photo at 10.00 pm –

No change in volume.

10.10 pm –

Perform the 5th feed –

Day 4 – 

Photo at 10 am – 

You can now see a little rise in the mix and some bubbles on the surface.

10.10 am –

Perform the 6th feed – 

Photo at 10.00 pm –

The mix has risen a bit and then fallen, as indicated by the trail on the wall of the bottle. See where the pencil is pointing.

10.10 pm –

Perform 7th feed – 

Day 5 –

I got up early and clicked this photo at 4 am –

It had already doubled by then.

Photo at 10 am –

By 10 am it had already subsided to the level seen in the picture. This means that it had doubled in the last 12 hours.

10.10 am –

Perform 8th feed –

Since it had already begun doubling, I now changed the ratio of feeding to 1:4:4. Which means I took 20 gm of the mix and fed it with 80 gm water and 80 gm flour using the same method as usual.

Photo at 1 pm –

In barely 3 hours, it had already doubled.

Photo at 2 pm –

In another hour (ie in 4 hours), it tripled.

Photo at 3 pm –

Photo at 6 pm –

Photo at 7.30 pm –

It now started dropping down.

10.10 pm –

Perform 9th feed –

Again feed in the ratio of 1:4:4, with 20 gm of the mix to 80 gm water and 80 gm flour using the same method as usual.

Day 6 –

Photo at 10.00 am –

The mix had tripled overnight and had started to trail back and was quite bubbly. This means that the starter was now behaving consistently and was ready to bake with.

 

For the next 2 days, I continued feeding it once in 24 hours using the same process of discarding some and a using 20:80:80 feeding ratio. But this time I put it in the fridge after it doubled and left it there until the next feed.

Once the starter is ready, you will need to refrigerate it. For more information on how to maintain and use it, please see the earlier post.

 

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I hope you will successfully try this and I would really appreciate if you leave your feedback in the Blog comments.

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