1-in-3 Amish Friendship Starter
When Nupur sent me that sour-sweet smelling package, I meticulously followed the tradition and baked Pineapple-Cherry Bread. But after working with the starter and understanding how to use it, rather manipulate it, opened a door of opportunities, or recipes, I should say. This 1-in-3 series is about my experiments with the starter.
I am not going to give instructions on how to feed the starter. You can find it here, along with other recipe ideas. If you are looking to make the starter on your own, this recipe may be of help. But I cannot vouch for the recipe as I haven’t tried it.
With many thanks to Nupur for sending me the starter, here is 1-in-3 Amish Friendship Starter.
Garlic-Herb NaanMost of the recipes I develop are by intuition. Things I strongly believe will work, even though I am trying it for the first time. After observing the active starter, one thought that screamed inside my head was flat bread. Unsure, I set out to make Naan, the Indian flat bread, to be on the safer side. I had no reason to be unsure. The naans were A-Class.
IngredientsAmish friendship starter – 1 cupWhole wheat flour – about 1¼ cups
Salt – 1 tsp
Garlic – 1 clove, minced
Mint, cilantro – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Oil – 1 tbspMethod
Combine starter, salt and flour to form a stiff dough. Add more flour depending on the moisture in the dough. Cover and rest the dough for 6-8 hours. When the dough has risen, punch down, knead well, cover and rest for another 2 hours.
When ready, preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine garlic, herb and oil and keep ready. Pinch an orange sized dough, and roll into a tear shape. Place on a hot pan, and cook until both the sides develop light brown spots. Transfer the naans on to a cookie sheet and broil until dark brown spots develop, about 30 – 45 seconds. Brush naans with garlic oil when they are hot out of the oven. Serve with your favourite masala. This recipe yields 7 medium sized naans.
Naans serve with Indira’s Aloo Masala.
