Something different: fried sourdough breads from Multan
Here is a recipe that I tried a while ago, but wanted to share with this community. It is new and different for me, and I thought it might be for many others as well. I also wanted to see whether anyone knows of any similar breads (using a similar starter, but maybe different shape or cooking method).
This is a traditional recipe from Multan, Pakistan. It uses a special type of yeast water made with black cardamom, fennel, poppy seeds, sugar, and chana dal (split hulled chickpeas). I'm no expert with yeast water, so I don't know how it compares to other types, but the spices really seemed to give a special flavor and fragrance to the dough. Making the yeast water was the hard part--my first attempt didn't work, and my second attempt took longer than the recipe specifies (maybe temperature wasn't warm enough). After that, the procedure is simple. You make a simple dough, roll it into small rounds, and fry it. I let the dough rise a bit after it was shaped, although the recipe doesn't require this.
I tried both the filled version and the plain version. The ones in the photo were filled, but the plain ones also puffed up nicely. As I recall, I preferred the plain because I didn't want distractions from the flavor of the dough. I also tried both 100% whole wheat and a 50-50 white/WW mix. Both were good.
Although I haven't tried it, I suspect that you could adapt the recipe for baking instead of frying. Maybe the simplest thing would be to bake the rounds on a hot stone like pitas. I may try this next time.
Here is the recipe: https://www.archanaskitchen.com/doli-ki-roti-recipe
Darker ones are 100% whole wheat
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I love fried beads and this one looks like something I'd like to try. Chickpea sourdough gives a special flavour to breads even without the spices. It is traditional in some areas of the Mediterranean like the island of Cyprus, where it is called "seven leavened".
I hadn’t heard of that. I’ll have to look into it and maybe try a recipe.
Why is this a sourdough with yeast water? Nonetheless, it kind of reminds me of fried pizza popular in Italy which I would like to try one of these days.
Sorry, I thought that something like this would get lumped in with sourdough. In my case the yeast water took several days to make so it felt similar to making a starter. It also had a sourdough-like taste (with some additional flavors).
And from that point of view is like a sourdough starter. It does lack the lactic acid producing bacteria though. However if you mix some yeast water with some flour and maintain it like a sourdough starter it'll turn into one.