Sour dough starter (Dhanaanis) is the heart of the great lahooh batter, that is what gives the sour dough lahooh the characteristic of tangy flavor, and it differs from recipe to recipe, depending on what type of grains used. It could be mix of whole wheat, sourghum, barley, corn, rice flour etc,.
In in this recipe we are making wild yeast sourdough starter, from scratch it is really worth it. Once you have your starter going you can start making other breads suchs the Ethiopian Injera, Panacakes, french bread and more.
To make the starter you will need;
- flour
- water
- container for your batter
- and a warm place to keep your batter
- this will take a period of 5 days or less.
Day 1:
Mix ¼ cup water to ½ cup flour in a jar, I am using plain unbleached all-purpose flour and warm water. It should be a tick paste , let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.
Day 2:
There should be some bubbles but you shouldn’t worry at this stage if yours didn’t develop any bubbles. Add ¼ cup water ½ cup flour to the bather and stir until combined. Let is sit for another 24 hours
Day 3:
The starter should have now some air and bubbles that is a good sign. Take about half of your batter (you can use it or throw it away) and mix in ¼ cup water and ½ cup flour. Leave it on the counter for another 24 hours
Day 4:
The starter should be double or triple in size and lots of bubbles in it, take half of the batter out and add ¼ cup water and ½ cup flour mix and let it sit again for 24 hours.
Day 5:
The starter should be now doubled in volume this means that it is ready to be used to make sourdough lahooh.
In the next post I will add recipe for sourdough Lahooh.
Feeding the starter:
If you are using this batter daily remove what you need for your lahooh and leave some for the next day, to this add flour and water to it then mix and let it sit on the counter for the next day.
When you dont have the time to make it daily leave the batter in the fridge that way you can forget about it for a week or so , when ready let it sit on the counter at room temperature, there will be some liquid on top you can mix in or discard.
Then add flour and water and let it rest again to ferment, then use what you need and leave some for the next starter and keep it in the fridge.
Is there a specific type of flour or mix of flours you would recommend if I’m trying to make Ethiopian Injera bread? Thanks.
Insha Allah I will post a recipe for the Ethiopian injera, you can use combinations of these flours;
teff, corn, sorghum, whole wheat, plain etc.