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If you are an enthusiastic sourdough baker then chances are that you are dealing with the awkward situation of discarding excess starter/levain and feeling guilty about the wastage. This was a major concern among new and experienced bakers alike during the past Covid-19 quarantine period, specially with the unexpected flour outage! Bakers flour became a precious commodity all of a sudden and no one felt good about having to discard starter. With these concerns and growing demand, home bakers started being creative by sneaking in starter discard into regular recipes.
I have always been using my discard, ever since I started baking at home. Some of my “discard” recipes/ideas gained so much popularity and engagement on Instagram that it finally lead me into writing this blog post. This will be the one place to find all my recipes.
For beginners:
Read the following basic about sourdough discard and using them in recipes
- When you want to refresh a starter that’s been sitting for too long, you take out most of it and feed the remaining with fresh flour and water
- What you take out is usually discarded or thrown away because it is the excess
- This should be a familiar process unless you make bread everyday and your starter is never abandoned (refrigerated)
- I always refresh my starter at least once before using it because my starter sits in the fridge for the most part of the week
- So a lot of home bakers collect and save this discard in a separate container in the fridge
- Discard is nothing but inactive starter. In other words it’s just flour and water. There could be some live yeast in it. It may contain all byproducts of the yeast activity too. It smells and tastes very acidic
- If the collected discard hasn’t gone bad, you can use it in other recipes. Why? Because it is a shame to waste it!
- So discard doesn’t do anything in such recipes other than replacing some of the water and flour
- It may add or enhance flavor, because it’s acidic and sometimes gives you cheesy flavor and smell
- Discard may still have some live yeast, so it may become active in the dough, so be mindful about this. We mostly use this in quick, forgiving recipes and hence it doesn’t matter much!
- So we adjust recipes to use discard in them by taking out some flour and moisture from the original recipe
- If you don’t have discard ; use the original recipe
- Do not store discard for extend period of time. It goes off even in the refrigerator. I never store for longer than a week (or two). If you couldn’t use it, throw it away!
- Freeze the discard to keep for longer, if you must, and thaw at room temperature before using
Recipe links
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Flat bread
This is the most popular so far. It is easier to make and doesn’t take too long. Very popular as a dinner idea! It is my personal favorite way to use discard and I have received lots of positive comments regarding this.
Don’t have discard?
No worries, use 1:1 flour : yogurt ratio with baking powder
Eg: 300 g flour, 300 g yogurt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
Ingredients
- 240 g all purpose flour + extra
- 150 g sourdough discard (any hydration)
- 150 g yogurt (I use full fat natural)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Mix everything to form a dough ball
- If it is sticky add a little flour and mix until it stops being sticky
- Do not kneed like you do with bread, just bring everything together to a soft not-so-sticky dough
- Cover and let rest for about an hour. Dough will be slightly risen(or not) and soft
- Dust with a generous amount of flour and pre-shape to a tighter ball (this will make handling easier)
- Divide into 10 pieces
- Round up each dough piece (use flour to stop sticking) in to tight dough balls, cover and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes
- Heat a skillet (I use a cast iron skillet) and lightly grease it
- Roll out each piece on a floured surface, to a thin disk (about 3-4 mm thickness)
- Cook both sides until done ( roughly 1 minute each side)
- Brush with garlic butter while still warm
Just mixed everything until a soft not-so-sticky dough is formed. let this rest!
Pre-shape the dough before dividing
Divide the dough in to 10 roughly equal pieces
Use flour generously and round up the dough pieces into balls, let them rest for some time (15 – 20 minutes)
Flour the bench generously and roll out each piece in to a flat roti shape
Try to keep an equal thickness all over the bread and use a dusting of flour to stop it from sticking. Heat a skillet (use non-stick spray if necessary, usually these won’t stick) and cook the flat bread both sides until it puffs up ( either fully or partially) and inside is cooked through.
Brush the cooked flat bread with melted butter/ghee infused with garlic
Savory coconut pancakes
This is another quick recipe and great dinner idea! If you like spices and a bit of heat, try this out and up the chili content to your liking.
Don’t have discard?
Replace the discard with a 1/4 cup of flour and continue with the rest! Adjust the batter consistency with more coconut milk or flour. It should look like a normal thin pancake(crepe) batter.
Savory coconut pancakes
Ingredients
For the batter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup discard (any hydration)
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp salt
Aromatics
- 1 tbsp coconut oil / butter
- A handful of onions/shallots finely chopped
- A clove(or two) of garlic minced
- 1 tsp of mustard seeds
- A few curry leaves finely chopped (optional)
- 1-2 tbsp of dried red chili pieces (optional)
- 1 tsp cumin (optional)
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
Green coconut chutney
- 1 cup freshly grated coconut or desiccated coconut hydrated with coconut milk ( add milk/water to make the coconut fluff up)
- Extra Coconut milk, a splash or so
- 1-2 Green chilies ( remove seeds if you don’t like the heat)
- 1/3 cup of scallion roughly chopped
- Some curry leaves (optional)
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp yogurt
- 1-2 tsp lime juice
Instructions
To make the pancakes
- Heat tablespoon of butter/coconut oil in a pan and add mustard seeds first
- When you can hear the seeds pop, add the remaining aromatics and saute until onions become translucent
- Set aside to cool
- To make the batter, mix flour salt in a large bowl
- Dissolve the discard in 1 cup of coconut milk. Add the beaten egg to the same mixture
- Pour the mixture onto the flour and stir to combine (use a whisk for this, would be much easier)
- Continue with the rest of the coconut milk until you get a pancake batter with no lumps
- Once the batter is smooth, add the sauteed aromatics into the batter and give it a stir
- Heat a skillet or a nonstick pan ( grease the pan if necessary) over medium flame
- Cook the pancakes, just like any other think pan cake
- I usually pour about 1/3 cup and give the pan a swirl until it is spread evenly, then flip after about a minute (depends on how hot your pan is) and cook for another 30 – 40 minutes
- Sever with a coconut chutney or any of your favorite curry/spread
To make the coconut chutney
- Blitz everything in a bender or a grinder ( I use my smoothie making attachment) to a smooth paste
- Add more yogurt/coconut milk to get things moving
- Finish off with a squeeze of lime
Onions, garlic, mustard seed are a must and the rest are optional. You can add any other aromatics to your taste
Saute the aromatics in a bit of oil/butter better yet ghee, if you have. Leave aside to cool
Get the pancake batter ready by mixing everything to a smooth silky mixture.
Mix 1 cup milk, discard and egg first then add that to the flour+salt mix and stir until combined. Then add the rest of the milk until you get a thin batter
Add sauteed aromatics into the batter and mix
This is now ready for pancakes. heat a nonstick pan or a skillet and make thin pancakes. Cook both sides
Serve warm with your favorite side or make the chutney from the recipe
Crackers
Second most favorite recipe or I like to call it “idea”, of all times. I think almost all sourdough bakers make crackers with their discard. It is so easy and therapeutic in my books. You should get the dough consistency right to be able to roll it to a paper thin cracker. It comes with practice. These crackers will have a unique cheesy flavor sometimes, as a result of the lactic acid in the discard.
Don’t have discard?
Skip the discard entirely and remove some of the water from the recipe. As always add water gradually and use extra flour to fix a sticky dough.
Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup discard ( roughly)
- 1 cup all purpose flour ( add 50% whole meal if you like)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- Extra water (if necessary)
- spices and herbs of your choice
Instructions
- Place discard, flour, salt and oil in a large bowl and mix using your hands (use a stand mixer if you like)
- You can add spices at this stage or sprinkle later. Herbs should be finely chopped
- Most probably your dough will come together without needing additional water. This depends on the moisture content in the discard
- If it is too dry, then add a teaspoon of water at a time and keep mixing
- When everything comes together, stop adding anymore water
- Get the dough onto a floured surface and knead until you get a firm, smooth dough ball ( like a pasta dough) it should not be sticky
- Wrap this in a plastic wrap (or place in a air tight container and refrigerate at least for 1 hour to relax gluten
- Take the rested dough on to a lightly floured bench and using a rolling pin, roll out as thinly as possible
- Do not forget to lift the dough and dust the bench frequently
- Sprinkle spices and/or herbs and keep rolling out to infuse
- Once you are happy with the thickness, cut out shapes and place on a tray lined with a baking paper
- Sprinkle some water followed by sea salt flakes
- Bake in a 350 F oven for 20 minutes
Knead until you get a stiff smooth dough that is not sticky. Almost like a pasta dough or play dough. Wrap and refrigerate to relax the gluten
Roll out as thinly as possible. Sprinkle spices/herbs halfway through and continue to roll out. Once done, cut in to bite size shapes.
Spread on a tray and sprinkle with some water and sea salt. Bake at 350ºF oven for 2o minutes.
Leave in the fridge until ready to be baked
Let these cool completely before storing. These last for several days in an airtight container ( or zip lock bag)
Fish parcels
Filling could be vegetable, chicken or beef based
A very popular Sri Lankan street food. The basic dough can be turned into several dishes. If you just cook the roti (without filling) it is called Paratha. This is a very light, bit chewy, ultra thin crepe that is made purely with flour, oil and a little water. Very similar to (Malaysian) Roti Canai that use ghee instead of oil and is laminated to create flakes/layers. Paratha can be served plain or can be tuned into;
egg roti ( spread a whisked egg while frying the roti)
koththu (a unique Sri Lankan street food which is very popular among tourists and is a must try if you visit)
Don’t have discard?
Add add 1/4 cup flour in place of discard and increase water by 1/4 cup. Add water gradually until you get the desired dough consistency. Check images below to get an idea about the dough feel.
Fish parcels
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 cups boiled potatoes coarsely mashed ( or cut in to chunks)
- 1 cup finely diced leeks
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp curry powder (optional)
- 2 tbsp oil
- Cooked,mashed white fish/canned salmon or tuna/cooked chicken/ beef (skip for a vegetarian option)
For the dough
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup discard
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp oil (canola/vegetable/coconut)
- 1/2 cup water
- Extra oil to coat the dough
Instructions
To make the filling
- Heat oil in a big enough saucepan
- Add onions, garlic and leeks and cook just until translucent ( sweat )
- Then add potatoes and mashed fish ( or meat or chicken) if you are adding
- I recommend adding canned salmon or tuna as you don’t have to worry about tiny fish bones
- Stir to combine everything and cook for about a minutes
- If mixture is very dry, add a splash of water
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Add curry powder if you have
- Take off the heat and leave to cool completely
To make the dough
- Mix flour, salt, discard and half the oil and start to mix
- Try to bring the dough together, then add 1/2 cup of water a little at a time
- When everything starts to come together, stop adding water ( you may not need all of the water)
- At this stage add the rest of the oil and start kneading
- You will have to knead for about 5-8 minutes until you get a very smooth dough (this dough is soft, elastic and not sticky)
- Divide the dough in to 10 golf ball size pieces
- Mold the dough pieces into smooth tight round balls
- Coat them in oil and place in a container
- Once all the balls are done and placed in the container, drizzle about 2 tbsp of oil on top
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for minimum of 4 hours ( 10 hours or overnight is ideal)
- The more you rest them, the stretchier they will be
To make the parcel
- Take one ball at a time
- Spread the dough on an oiled surface very thinly to a rectangular shape
- Place a bit of mixture and fold the dough (wrap) to make a parcel (check the video below)
- Continue with the rest
- Heat a skillet or a non stick pan
- Cook/fry the parcels turning frequently
- Make sure to cook the edges and sides until it looks golden brown all around
- When cooked, the dough will look a bit like wax paper
- Serve with ketchup
Use this same dough to cook Paratha
- Spread on an oiled surface until supper thin ( as thin as you can go without tearing)
- Heat a big skillet/griddle
- Cook the thin Roti for about 1 minute
- If the roti is too large, fold the four sides inwards (like a envelop) and cook both sides
- Check photos below
Notes
You can use any filling of your choice, just make sure it is a dry filling that is not going to ooze out when cooking the parcel later
Mix flour, discard, half of the oil and add water gradually to form a dough. When it looks like in the picture, add the remaining oil too and knead for 5-8 minutes.
Keep kneading till you get a smooth dough like shown in the picture. It will be soft( but stiff) not sticky. You can add bit more water or oil to get it to this consistency
Divide the dough in to 10 – 12 depending on what you are doing with them. For parcels divide in to 10. For plain roti(Paratha) divide in to 12
Coat the dough balls generously in oil and place in a container
Pour extra oil on top, so that they won’t stick together (infuse) . This is important, as it prevents the skin from drying out too.
Cover tightly, and refrigerate for minimum 4 hours. 10 hours or over night is recommended. The more you let them rest, the easier they will be to stretch
If you are not using discard, it is not necessary to refrigerate these, you can just cover and leave them out side
Make the filling well ahead of making the parcels and leave to cool.
Make it either vegetarian or add cooked fish/chicken or beef
Check the video below to see how I make a triangular parcel. You can ma square or rectangular parcels, just make sure to seal the fillings properly.
Cook the parcels on a preheated skillet/non-stick pan. Cook all sides including the edges and corners.
Serve with ketchup
Variations
To make plain Roti (Paratha) ;
Stretch the dough on a well oiled surface as thin as you can, like shown in the picture
Cook on a preheated skillet until golden. These will be cooked fast, keep an eye as they will burn quickly
Can be served with a curry /stir-fry or your favorite dip/chutney
To makeeEgg roti/paratha;
Beat an egg and set aside. Stretch the dough on a well oiled surface as thinly as possible.
Heat a big enough skillet/non-stick pan. Lay the spread dough on the hot skillet surface. Bursh with a beaten egg ( use may be 2 tbsp of egg mixture) add salt pepper.
Fold all four sides inward like an envelop. Cook both sides.
Now you have Egg Roti. They can be served just like this or with a dip
Sourdough Discard Waffles
As the name suggests, yes, these waffles have sourdough discard in the batter. This is another one of my favorite ways to use up accumulated discard. You can make these waffles sweet or savory.
Don’t have discard?
Add add 1/4 cup flour in place of discard and increase water by 1/4 cup. Or simply skip the discard and you should be good to go. You can always adjust the batter consistency by adding more liquid or flour
Lets see how to make the sweet version first.
Sourdough Discard Waffles (sweet)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup discard
- 11/4 cup all purpose (AP) flour
- 2 tbsp buckwheat flour (or use AP instead)
- Pinch of salt (1/4 tsp)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp castor sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup oil (or melted butter)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Beat eggs and castor sugar until thick and pale, set aside
- Combine all other “dry” ingredients and set aside
- In a large bowl mix milk, discard, oil, vanilla, honey until nice and smooth
- Fold in the egg mixture followed by flour mixture (dry ingredients)
- Stir to get a smooth thick batter
- If the batter too thick add some milk to loosen it up or if it’s too runny, add a little flour to balance out. (You know the waffle consistency 👊)
- Let this batter sit for about 15 minutes
- Preheat the waffle iron
- If you are making a big batch, preheat the oven to about 180 C , so you can rest cooked waffles in the oven while until serving time
- Make the waffles until the batter runs out
- 1/4 cup per waffles is my measurement and my iron makes four at a time. So from this I get about 10 squares (2 and a half batches)
Savory:
Here is the savory version. Check the photos below the recipe to get an idea of the process. But I think this is pretty simple.
Sourdough Discard Waffles (savory)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup discard
- 11/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup rendered bacon fat (or use melted butter)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 stalks of spring onions diced
- 6 rashes of bacon (fried and cut into chunks)
- fresh Thyme (about 2 tbsp)
Instructions
- Mix all wet ingredients and set aside
- Mix eggs, water, vinegar, discard, bacon fat in a bowl until it is smooth
- Add the liquid to the flour mixture (dry ingredients) and mix until a thick batter is formed
- Fold in the scallion(spring onions), bacon and herbs
- Adjust the thickness of the batter with water or flour
- I like mine on the thick (but still pouring consistency) makes chunky waffles
- Let this batter sit for about 15 minutes
- Preheat the waffle iron
- If you are making a big batch, preheat the oven to about 180 C , so you can rest cooked waffles in the oven while until serving time
- Make the waffles until the batter runs out
- 1/4 cup per waffles is my measurement and my iron makes four at a time. So from this I get about 10 squares (2 and a half batches)
Thick batter. This is all the liquid and flour mixed in along with the discard
All the yummy stuff. Bacon, scallion and thyme. I add oregano or rosemary sometimes. Feel free to add what you like instead of these.
If you don’t have scallion, onions would do too. If you like garlic, you can add some chopped up.
Final batter. Let this rest for about 15 minutes. If it turns out too thick, loosen up with water.
Pasta
I slightly adjusted @bonappetitmag basic recipe to use
1 cup of discard.
1 cup discard
1 cup flour(mix of AP and bread flour)
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil
pinch of salt
mix all of these together and keep adding flour till I get the pasta dough consistency. I then hand roll and cut using lots of semolina flour.
I will post more details about this as and when I make them, may be some step by step photos!
I laminated one batch with dill. You can use other herbs too. Simply roll out the dough thinly and place herbs between two pasta sheets. And roll again until herbs are embossed and desired thickness is achieved.
8 comments
Hey! Do you have a baked version of your fish parcel recipe? Thanks!
Unfortunately, I have never tried baking these
Thank you very much. Amazing flat bread recipe. I used active sourdough. It was so airy. I also baked it on top on my baking steel in inflated beautifully!
Glad you loved them, one of my personal favorites too 🙂
I’ve made the waffles and they were so good !! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
You are welcome! Glad you liked them.
Dear Vindi,
I would really like if you can make a post dedicated to making sourdough discard pasta!
xx
Hi Alice!
Yes! I so want to & I will, soon 🙂
Cheers!