Do you sprout your beans and lentils before you eat them? Well, if you do not, maybe you should start!
Sprouting beans and lentils can add better nutrition to your dish and can also make the bean or lentil more digestible. It can also help improve the absorption of the minerals present in the bean or lentil you’re going to consume. So, if you haven’t been sprouting your beans and lentils this far, here’s how you can do it!
Benefits of Sprouting beans, legumes, seeds or lentils –
Beans or lentils are rich source of plant based protein with essential nutrients and dietary fiber. Sprouting them enhances the nutrients and vitamins thereby increasing their antioxidant properties. Sprouts can help improve digestion and promote healthy gut. It also has detoxifying properties.
With sprouts you get a higher vitamin content (anywhere from 3 to 12 times!), increased essential fatty acid and fiber content, and increased minerals and protein. They also help to keep your heart and bone heathy.
Chickpea sprouts are high in protein and dietary fiber. Broccoli seeds sprouts has amazing antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. sprouting helps promote hair growth and healthy skin.
What is most commonly used for sprouting?
The following are commonly used for sprouting –
| Seeds | Grains | Beans/Lentils | |
| Alfalfa seeds | Barley | Aduki beans | |
| Broccoli seeds | Buckwheat | Broad beans | |
| Chia seeds | Corn | Chickpeas | |
| Clover seeds | Kamut | Lentils | |
| Fenugreek seed | Millet | Green peas | |
| Flax (linseed) | Oats | Mung beans | |
| Leek seeds | Quinoa | Pinto | |
| Mustard seeds | Rye | Soya beans | |
| Radish seeds | Spelt | ||
| Sesame seeds | Wheat | ||
| Sunflower seeds | |||
How to Grow Sprouts at home ?
1. Clean – Take 1 cup of beans or seeds or lentils and place them on a strainer and rinse them 2-3 times to clean them.
2. Soak – Transfer the rinsed beans to a bowl and add filtered water until the beans are soaked. Cover the bowl and soak it for 8-10 hours or overnight at room temperature.
4. Drain – The next morning, drain the water and clean the soaked beans with filtered water.
5. Sprout. Wet a muslin or cheese cloth and spread the beans on it. Tie the cloth and place it in a glass bowl. Spray the cloth every 8-12 hours to keep the cloth wet. ( You need to keep the seeds moist to encourage growth, but also to not have them too wet)
6. Harvest – The beans will be fully sprouted after 1-5 days, that your beans or lentils have a germinated tail of ½ an inch to ¾ of an inch in length. You can also continue letting the beans to sprout for another day or so to get longer sprouts. Some seeds with sprout in 1 day while others take up to 5 days to sprout.
Store –
You can store these sprouted beans and lentils in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just give it a gentle rinse before you use them (be careful not to break off their sprouted tails).
How to use the sprouts ?
Use them in your yogurt, sandwich, salads, sprinkle them on a bowl of noodles or slightly steam them to have them to mash them on a toast. You can also cook them in your porridge or oatmeal.
