Sourdough Grissini

EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP
THEME: #244 SNACKMANIA
FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme
Many countries are still under lockdown or curfew while some are planning to open up malls, restaurants, shops but with limited people allowed in these places. This week Renu who blogs at Cook with Renu, suggested that we make snacks which can be stored at least for two weeks if not less. Truthfully, most snacks in my home don’t last beyond two weeks besides chevdo.
Snacks
With families at home with this Stay Home Be Safe that everyone in the world is practicing, more food is consumed. Especially when you have kids at home, they constantly need something to snack on. For many its not easy to get fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. So most of the time we have to resort to other snacks that do not perish easily.
What are Snacks?
Snacks are small meals that one has in between main meals. These snacks can be ones that need to be consumed immediately like fritter, sandwiches, cut fruits, etc. Then there are those that last longer like cookies, crackers, crisps (chips), tortilla chips, etc. In that respect the Indian Sub Continent offers a huge selection of snacks or munchies as they are sometimes referred to. Right from Chedvo (Chevda), Ganthia, Sev, Mathia, Fafda, Mathri, Farsi Puri, Chakri, Sakapara, etc. The list is endless.
Check out some Snacks that can be stored for at two weeks or more and consumed:
- Extra Flaky Farsi Puri
- Khakhras
- Masala Farsi Puri
- Baked Mathri
- Chakri
- Baked Sakarpara
- Poppy Seeds and Sesame Seeds Crackers
- Besan Ke Namkeen Sev by Renu
- Knäckebröd or Crispbread by Renu
- Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Besan Nankhatai (Chickpea Flour Cookies)
- Wheat Orange and Oat Cookies
Snacks and Memories
My mum would make snacks often for our huge family and I remember helping her. Back then snacks were never bought ready made as we can do nowadays. Peel potatoes for the chevdo, help her bake cookies, roll and cut small slits on farsi puri, help her to smear mixture of flour and ghee for the flaky farsi puri. When my kids were growing up, they loved chevdo, sev, chakri…yes must have made tonnes and tonnes of those along with farsi puri.
What I made for the Snackmania Theme – Sourdough Grissini
As you may have noticed, I’m a bit more partial to healthier snacking options. Having said that Chakri, Farsi Puri and Cookies are my weakness. I love snacking on them. Hubby loves Chevdo. For this theme I chose to make a baked snack that can be stored for over two weeks. Initially, I decided to make grissini or breadsticks with yeast but since I’ve started the process of making sourdough starter, I have quite a bit of discard. I hate throw the discard away so decided to use that instead.
What is Sourdough Starter?
We all know that one requires yeast to bake a bread. Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water which is allowed to ferment at room temperature so that it ‘catches’ the wild yeast that exists in our surroundings. This helps the mixture to ferment. Some of the fermented mixture is discarded and the remaining fed again with more flour and water. This process which takes about 5-7 days helps the mixture to develop the characteristic sour taste that we find in sourdough breads and other sourdough products. Best place to learn how to make a sourdough starter is to visit King Arthur Flour Website.
What is Grissini?
Grissini is the Italian name for breadstick. Also known as grissino or dipping sticks, they generally are pencil thin. This should not be mistaken with the breadsticks that one gets at Dominoes,Pizza Hut or Olive Garden. Grissini are thin, crisp, dry baked bread which originated in Italy. These sticks are perfect for snacking on or to serve with a dip or even with a soup. The flavors of grissini are plentiful. Aniseed, cumin seed, herbs, caraway, cheese, sesame seeds, turmeric, sea salt, paprika, garlic, etc are some that I can think of.
Ingredients required for Sourdough Grissini
Fed or Active Sourdough Starter – the discard is fed and allowed to ferment overnight.
Flour – I used a mixture of both plain and wheat flour.
Salt – any salt of your choice
Flavoring of your choice – I chose to use cumin seeds.
Warm Water
Oil or butter
Dietary Tips:
- Vegan
- Kids Friendly
- Egg free
SOURDOUGH GRISSINI
Recipe Source: Doves Farm
For the Sourdough Starter:
25g sourdough starter, room temperature
50g wheat flour
75ml warm water
For the Grissini/Breadsticks:
150g fermented sourdough starter (that is the whole of the above fed starter)
150g wheat flour
50g plain flour
75ml warm water
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
Ferment or make the Sourdough Starter ready:
- Mix the sourdough starter, water and flour in a glass jar or container.
- Mix it well, I prefer to use a fork.
- Cover and let it ferment in a warm place overnight.
- After 6-8 hours the starter should be creamy and with bubbles.
- To test if it is ready, drop a bit of the sourdough in a cup of water. It should float.
Prepare the dough for the Sourdough Grissini:
- Mix the flours, salt and cumin seeds in a bowl.
- Add oil and rub it into the flour.
- Add both the water and fed sourdough starter.
- Bring the dough together.
- Dust the worktop with some flour.
- Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes till you have a smooth dough.
- Grease a bowl with oil. Rub oil over the dough too.
- Place the dough in the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a lid or cling film.
- Leave the bowl with the dough in a warm place to ferment for 3 hours.
- Deflate the risen dough gently.
- Dust the work top with some flour.
- Bring the dough together into a ball.
- Grease baking trays with some oil.
Two ways to prepare the grissini or breadsticks:
Using a pizza cutter:
- Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle about 10″ X12″
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into thin strips.
- Carefully place the strips on the baking tray, leaving a little gap between each.
Rolling:
- Roll the risen dough into a long rope.
- Using a sharp knife cut into small slices, about the size of a walnut.
- Using very little flour, roll each piece into a long rope that fits in your baking tray.
- Though time consuming I found that this method is better.
Second Fermentation:
Place the trays in the oven (not switched on) and let the cut strips ferment for one hour.
Baking:
- Remove the trays from the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Bake the breadsticks for 10-12 minutes till they begin to turn light golden brown. Be careful not to burn them.
- Remove the breadsticks or grissini from the tray and let them cool on a wire rack.
- Store in an airtight container.
Tips:
- Roll the dough out into thin sticks.
- Make sure they don’t get burnt.
- If the rolled breadsticks are a bit thick, baking time will increase.
- Make sure you store grissini in airtight containers.
Pin for Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
44 Comments
Sangeeta sethi
April 27, 2020 at 5:44 pm
Fabulous unique healthy starters ..
Fabulous recipe .
mayurisjikoni
April 27, 2020 at 9:52 pm
Thank you so much Sangeeta.
Bintu (@recipespantry)
April 27, 2020 at 9:09 pm
These look so good and like the perfect snack! Always looking for new things to try with the kids.
mayurisjikoni
April 27, 2020 at 9:52 pm
Thanks Bintu… am sure they will love the breadsticks.
hem lata srivastava
April 28, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Looks so good, perfectly baked and very well explained. A must try recipe.
mayurisjikoni
April 28, 2020 at 11:44 pm
Thank you so much Hem Lata.
The Anthony Kitchen
April 27, 2020 at 9:42 pm
Sourdough is my favorite kind of bread and these grissini are such a fun snack idea. I would love to have a sourdough starter one day.
mayurisjikoni
April 27, 2020 at 9:51 pm
Thank you so much, breadstick is definitely a fun snack. If you’re at home or under lockdown then perhaps can make the sourdough starter.
alwaysusebutter
April 27, 2020 at 9:44 pm
These grissini look SOOO good. I can’t wait to try them! Could I make them with normal yeast instead of sourdough, since I don’t have that? (Can’t be trusted to take care of something living like that ;))
mayurisjikoni
April 27, 2020 at 9:49 pm
Thank you so much. Grissini can be made with a normal yeast dough… just use your bread or pizza dough recipe.
The Girl Next Door
April 28, 2020 at 10:08 pm
Wow, what amazing, amazing pics! The grissini look incredible. I’m sure these sourdough bread sticks would taste just awesome. 🙂
mayurisjikoni
April 28, 2020 at 11:44 pm
Thank you so much Priya, yes hubby is really happy that I made them
mayurisjikoni
April 30, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Thank you so much Priya… and they did taste awesome, didn’t last 15 days 🙂
Jayne
April 27, 2020 at 10:44 pm
Love sourdough anything! Thank you for your recipe the step by step made it really easy to follow and fun to make.
mayurisjikoni
May 2, 2020 at 10:56 pm
Thanks Jayne.
Alison | Food by Mars
April 27, 2020 at 11:11 pm
Yass! gimme that crunch, these look great.
mayurisjikoni
May 2, 2020 at 10:56 pm
Thank you Alison.
Batter Up With Sujata
May 3, 2020 at 6:42 pm
What an unique and amazing recipe. Grissini looks so crispy delicious and flavorful. Flavour of cumin definitely made these bread sticks tasty and aromatic. I will try it with yeast.
mayurisjikoni
May 3, 2020 at 8:06 pm
Thanks Sujata, please do try with yeast, they will not have the sour taste but they taste great.
Ghulam Mohyudin
April 29, 2020 at 6:23 am
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
mayurisjikoni
May 2, 2020 at 10:55 pm
Thank you so much Ghulam.
Superduperkitchen -Niranjana Sankaranarayanan
April 29, 2020 at 10:17 am
Fantabulous post with a detailed writeup. In love with these sourdough breadsticks😍
mayurisjikoni
April 30, 2020 at 3:50 pm
Thank you so much Niranjana.
FoodTrails
May 1, 2020 at 8:15 pm
We love sourdough breads and these breadsticks make a wonderful snack for munching or with a cup of warm soup. Love the pics, tempted to make these soon now..
mayurisjikoni
May 2, 2020 at 4:07 pm
Thank you so much Swaty, we enjoyed them with guacamole, soup and an olive oil dip.
preethi76
May 2, 2020 at 4:49 am
These bread sticks with sourdough starter is absolutely tempting. Making sourdough starter at home is interesting. Should I making it at home. Will never buy commercial yeast if successful.
mayurisjikoni
May 2, 2020 at 4:07 pm
Thanks Priya.. sometimes the normal yeast is required so I wouldn’t entirely depend on sourdough starter. But breads made from it are much easier to digest.
Vasusvegkitchen
May 3, 2020 at 7:01 pm
Wow sourdough grissini looks fabulous with amazing presentation di. As always loved your clear explanation and write up di. This is amazing starter nd just love to have it anytime..
mayurisjikoni
May 3, 2020 at 8:04 pm
Thank you so much Aruna.
poonampagar
May 3, 2020 at 7:46 pm
Can’t take my eyes off your gorgeous pics of grissini di ! The sourdough breadsticks look absolutely inviting!
JollyHomemadeRecipes
May 3, 2020 at 8:43 pm
WoW!! perfect shaped bread sticks. I remember first time I tasted it in Indian trains, they are so buttery and crispy. They looks like that. Very nicely explained Mayuri autny. WIll surely try this 🙂
mayurisjikoni
May 4, 2020 at 9:07 pm
Thank you so much Jolly.
Renu Agrawal Dongre
May 5, 2020 at 4:29 pm
This looks like a great snack to be done for my kids. They love bread sticks with cheese and this with the sourdough discard is something which I am definitely looking to try out soon.
mayurisjikoni
May 5, 2020 at 9:56 pm
Renu, try it out especially with the discard. Am sure your son will enjoy helping you to roll them.
Sasmita Sahoo Samanta
May 11, 2020 at 5:54 am
As I love bread sticks, so these grissini i will surely enjoy. I am yet to try my hand in sourdough, hopefully soon i will make these.
Use of sourdough discard is awesome choice
mayurisjikoni
May 11, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Thanks Sasmita. Till you try out your hand at sourdough, you can make the breadsticks without it.
namscorner18
May 11, 2020 at 2:50 pm
Lovely capture and you have beautifully shaped them. Grissini looks so inviting and tempting.
mayurisjikoni
May 11, 2020 at 11:40 pm
Thank you so much Narmadha.
sizzlingtastebuds
May 14, 2020 at 8:05 am
classy , elegant presentation of a fabulous snack ! I can get my eyes off the screen.. we love grissini with soup, I think I will wait for someone to bake me these ….lol !
mayurisjikoni
May 14, 2020 at 10:36 pm
Thank you so much Kalyani.
ARCHANA
May 30, 2020 at 7:51 am
Sourdough is sour grapes for me. I manage to kill it all the time and hating throwing out the starter. But I read in you comments that these can be made with regular yeast. I am happy with soups that will make a comeback on the menu these will be highly appreciated.
mayurisjikoni
May 30, 2020 at 9:07 pm
Thanks Archana, and yes you can make them with yeast… they go so well with soups.
waagmi
June 4, 2020 at 11:26 pm
how beautiful is this…you made them so nicely…I will have this with my tomato soup. 🙂
mayurisjikoni
June 5, 2020 at 11:21 pm
Thanks Waagmi.