Does choice of sourdough starter feed really affect the bread's flavor?
I recently made a sourdough starter using the KAF method with organic whole rye and AP flour. It has been textbook perfect but expensive to maintain as I live in India where imported Western flour is not cheap. I have switched over to feeding the starter with local Indian atta (durum) or maida( white flour) depending on what we have around in the kitchen. The starter doesn't seem to mind and due to the heat here is actually a bit over sour. But I've read on so many baking websites of people feeding starters with rarified ingredients: grapes, potatoes and whatnot and insisting that this is much superior to cheap flour.
Is this true? Will using Indian flatbread flour to feed my starter negatively affect the taste of my bread? I am a San Franciscan trying very hard to duplicate the taste of home here in Mumbai.