Sprouting

How to Sprout beans:

1. Wash Beans well and soak them in Pure Water overnight.
2. Drain all of the water from the Beans.
3. Soak thin cloth with pores in water and squeeze out the water (leaving a little).
4. Next day Place soaked Beans in a cloth and cover it
5. Place cloth in a container with a lid.
6. Cover the container and keep it in a warm, dark place.
7. Leave it for 2 days sprinkling water on cloth daily to re-moisten it.
8. In 2 days, the Mung Sprouts will be ready to eat, raw or cooked.
The sprouting time will vary (depends on the ingredient).

Conditions for sprouting :

Air - as any small plant, sprouts need air to breathe, without it they will succumb to mould and rot more easily. Don’t put them in sealed containers and make sure that they get enough.

Water - after a good soaking, sprouts need water every 12 hours at least and more if its hot. Regularity is key, if they are even slightly deprived in their first few days of life they will be permanently setback. In your efforts to keep them watered don’t drown them, they must be allowed to freely drain, else they will soon rot. If you let them dry they’ll die. If you let them soak they’ll choke.

Warmth - sprouts need to be kept warm to germinate and grow. Optimum temperatures vary but 70 to 75 f is a good start. Don’t let them get too hot or they’ll wilt, lose vitality and die. Colder temperatures will slow growth and are good for storage, but don’t freeze them.

Space - for best results, give your sprouts some room. Some sprouts can increase up to 30 times their size. Cramming them in a jar or overfilling a tray or bag will force them to compete for light and air, with inevitable casualties. Spread only a thin layer of seeds in trays, keep them mobile in bags and jars and remember they get bigger!

Uses of Sprouting :

Infinite uses are there with Sprouts.
> There is an amazing increase in nutrients in sprouted foods when compared to their dried embryo. In the process of sprouting, the vitamins, minerals and protein increase substantially with corresponding decrease in calories and carbohydrate content.

> Analysis of dried seeds, grains and legumes shows a very low water content. But this increases upto tenfold when the same food is converted into sprouts.

> They supply food in predigested form, that is, the food which has already been acted upon by the enzymes and made to digest easily.

> Sprouts are an extremely inexpensive method of obtaining a concentration of vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

> Sprouts contain oxygen. Because sprouts are a ‘living’ food, they contain hundreds of molecules of oxygen, which is essential for healthy cells. Oxygen-rich foods can ward off viruses and even kill off bacteria.

> Sprouts have an alkalizing affect on the body. Your body needs to be alkaline in order to be healthy

Sprouts contain healthy fats
Sprouts are natural sources of fiber.
Sprouts can give you a dose of vitamins B and C.
Eating sprouts increases your protein count.
Sprouts are very low in calories

What all can be sprouted :

Many seeds can be sprouted, but some sprouts cannot be eaten raw. The most commonly sprouted seeds include:

Pulses (pea family):
alfalfa, fenugreek, mung bean, lentils, pea, chickpea, soybean , alachandalu and other kinds of beans

Cereals:
oat, wheat, maize (corn or jonnalu), Whole Millet,sajjalu, raagulu, rice, barley, rye, kamut and then quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat (these last three are used as cereal even if botanically they are not)

Oilseeds:
sesame, sunflower, almond, hazelnut, linseed.

Vegetables and herbs:
broccoli, carrot, spinach, cabbage, celery, fennel, onion, parsley, radish, turnip, leek, watercress, mustard, rocket (arugula), lemon grass, lettuce, clover, mizuna, milk thistle, tatsoi.