How to make sprouts – a tutorial

Sprouts have all you would like to hear about a munching snack – can be eaten raw, no oil, healthy, fiber rich, protein packed. Here is how you make them at home, instead of buying them from the vegetable vendor.

Moong Sprouts

1. Take any pulses/ legumes which are whole and can be germinated – green whole moong/ moth/ black masoor/ rajma/ kala chana/ white, kabuli chana. The most common ones sprouted are green whole moong and moth.
2. Take a wide pan and soak the pulses in enough water (the seeds will swell when germinated). In the summer time, cover this with a jaali/ roli/ plate with holes. In winters, cover with a plate and keep the assembly on the fridge top, so that there is enough heat for the germination process. Keep this overnight/ 8 – 10 hours.
3. In the morning, take out the sprouts from the water and wash them twice in fresh water. Wash the pan in which these were soaked too, we want to re-use the pan.
4. Take a clean, thin, cotton cloth – large enough to hold the sprouts. Line the pan with the cloth and put back the sprouts in the pan. Gather the ends of the cloth so as to form a loose bundle of sprouts kept in the pan.
5. The cloth will be wet as the sprouts are wet. Still, sprinkle some more water on the cloth so that it is uniformly wet. Cover this with a jaali/ roli/ plate with holes. If you use a plate, the sprouts will go bad, while you want them to breathe and germinate further. Keep this for 8 to 10 hours.
6. When you open the pan now, you should expect the cloth gone dry and warm to touch. The sprouts have generated the heat while growing. The seeds would have been germinated totally, with some of them growing right through the cloth. Remove the sprouts from the cloth and keep them in open for half an hour. I usually don’t wash them, but if you find these a bit smelly, wash them.
7. Now comes a painful step which most people skip, but I don’t like my sprouts-eating fun spoiled by a “kattt” in my teeth. It totally turns me off. Yeah I am talking about some of the headstrong seeds that refuse to germinate and remain hard even after this ordeal. So, I pick them. How? Take a flat, big steel plate. Throw in (gently) a handful of sprouts on it. If you hear a ‘tak’ sound (the seed which has not germinated will make it), and the seed will also roll out to a side of the plate. Pick these out – they are spoilsports. This takes time and patience – and sharp senses too. 🙂 Too much? Skip the step!
8. Eat them, or refrigerate in an air tight box for further use.

Sprouts Usal

I have already talked about our hungry stomachs growling@ 6:30PM here. Now, hubby N always looks for some sprouts in the fridge, before giving me a disappointed look and restoring to Haldiram bhujia. I dont look for them as I know that as always – I have forgotten making them. Yes I know they are healthy, protein rich, got fiber! But making them is not as easy as hubby N makes it sound – throw-some-in-water-tonight. Ok, not tough maybe, but time consuming for sure. Specially in Delhi, where it’s summer always and if you don’t give your sprouts TLC, you will end up with sticky and smelly germinated seeds, ready to be planted in your kitchen garden.

Here is how I make sprouts. And below is how I make an usal out of them – either green moong or the smaller brownish variety – ‘moth’. Though best eaten raw, sprouts can make a quick and yummy breakfast or even a side to a meal when cooked up as an usal.

moth sprouts usal

Ingredients –
sprouts (green moong or moth) – 2 cups
green chili – 1 (cut to small pieces)
grated ginger – 1 tspn
oil – 2 tspns
jeera/cumin – 1 tspn
ajwain/ carom seeds – 1 tspn
heeng/ asfotedia – 1 pinch
haldi/ turmeric powder – 1 tspn
salt – as per taste
garam masala/ kitchen king masala – 1 tspn
lemon juice of 1 lemon

Method –
1. In a wok/kadhai/ non-stick pan, heat oil.
2. Add the jeera and ajwain in hot oil and let it sizzle for a minute. followed by haldi and heeng.
3. Add the green chili pieces and grated ginger and sauté for 10 seconds.
4. Add the sprouts, sprinkle some water. If you don’t add water, the sprouts will tend to get hard.
5. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Remove the cover, mix in salt, garam masala and lemon juice.
7. Serve hot with an optional garnishing of coriander leaves and grated ginger.