Commercial Idli/Dosa Liquid Starter

I’m looking for an experienced food microbiologist or fermentation technologist who can formulate a robust liquid culture starter for idli and dosa production. The final product has to be a ready-to-inoculate liquid containing a balanced consortium of both lactic acid bacteria and yeast, optimised for rapid acidification, consistent leavening and the classic South-Indian flavour profile.

Scope of work
• Select, characterise and combine proven strains of LAB and yeast suited for rice–lentil substrates.
• Design a propagation protocol that lets me scale from lab flasks to industrial fermenters (≈1 000 L batches) without loss of viability or performance.
• Establish shelf-life parameters and suggest cold-chain or preservative strategies so the culture stays active for at least 30 days at 4 °C.
• Provide detailed QC guidelines: microbial counts, pH curve, sensory benchmarks and contamination checkpoints.

Deliverables
1. Master culture in a 1 L seed lot, shipped in insulated packaging.
2. Step-by-step scale-up SOP in PDF, including media composition, aeration/agitator settings and target CFU counts.
3. Certificate of analysis covering LAB and yeast counts, absence of pathogens, and moisture/aw content.
4. One follow-up consultation (1 h video call) to troubleshoot first production run.

Acceptance criteria
– Final culture lowers batter pH to ≤4.5 within 8 h at 30 °C.
– CO₂ production achieves a batter rise of ≥40 % volume within the same period.
– Viable cell count ≥10⁸ CFU/mL (combined) at point of dispatch.

If you’ve already developed similar starters or have access to certified strains, please mention it in your proposal along with any relevant lab accreditations.