Sprouting seeds are an ingredient I use for a number of purposes. From topping dishes with microherbs, providing crunch in salads, to my favourite use: chaat. The Indian tradition of crunchy, spicy, herby, saucy light meals and snacks are a great way of getting veggies into your diet, and sprouting seeds and pulses are a key chaat ingredient. I recently shared a photo of a chick pea chaat with sprouted moth beans and sprouted mung beans, which led to someone asking how to sprout lentils. This post attempts to answer that request.
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| A bowl of chana chaat with sprouted lentils |
I eat sprouted seeds because I enjoy the taste and crunch they provide. I hope when you give this a try, you’ll feel the same. But there are health benefits from eating sprouted seeds. As part of the germination process, the seeds release the goodness stored inside, for the young plant to use, and it is the enzymes released which makes the carbohydrate and protein stored in the seed easier for us to digest. It is also thought that sprouted seeds are good for your gut biome.
I have personally tried sprouting the following lentils/pulses; Mung beans, Green lentils (the big green ones), Puy lentils (the little French slightly blue ones), Brown lentils, Moth beans (or matki beans, native to India), Chick peas (regular and kala chana, the black chick peas) and Aduki beans (although the red skin colour leaches out). These were all easy to sprout, but each takes a different amount of time to germinate.
You could probably try any other pulse/lentil with a skin, with the exception of red kidney beans (because of the lectin in them, which can be poisonous), and I would also avoid white kidney beans and peanuts for the same reason. In South Korea the bean sprouts you often get served with your banchan are sprouted soy beans – these do have lectin in them so it would be best that if you sprout these, you cook your sprouts. You can also sprout dried peas (of any colour), although I have not tried this myself.
I have also sprouted special seed mixes for sprouting, which can be bought in health food shops or garden centres. There are special “microherb” varieties you can find. British mail order seed company Thompson and Morgan and German company A Vogel sell sprouting seeds available in the UK. One issue which can arise with mixes of seeds is that the different varieties germinate at different rates. If this happens, you should just accept that not all the sprouts will be at the same stage of growth and enjoy them as they are. That’s just nature!
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| Mixed sprouts - lentils and chick peas |
Some vegetables are suited to sprouting, such as broccoli, beetroot and radish. I have sprouted kohl rabi, which came out very well with their colourful purple stems. I have not tried sprouting grains, which are meant to be rapid and particularly good for children as the germination process makes the sprout taste sweet. These grain sprouts can also be used for bread making, and might well be a fun avenue of sprouting to explore in the future.
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| Red kohl rabi sprouts |
If you have a fairly fresh packet of either black or yellow mustard seeds, these sprout into tasty, slightly fiery little microherb plants, which are great with salads. Alfalfa seeds are very small indeed, but these also grow into nice sprouts for salads or toppings for other dishes. I have been recommended growing fenugreek, which I will try when I buy a fresh pack of seeds for use in curry. You can also grow different salad leaf microgreens; rocket, lettuce, cabbage, kale. There is so much variety you can explore, and have fun with.
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| Mustard microherbs |
When I sprout lentils, I don’t bother with any specialist products. I buy half kilo bags of lentils from the Indian or Turkish shop. Obviously they have to have to be whole lentils with the skins on. I keep them in a kitchen cupboard (in a cool, dark place) to ensure the seeds remain as viable as possible. Older packs, and packs which have been exposed to air and light will have lower germination rates, in my experience. If a packet gets too old, just cook them up as normal (whole lentils are great protein and fibre for salads), so you don’t need to feel guilty about buying the half kilo bags and not using them quickly.
I don’t bother sifting or checking my seeds for any stones etc, as contemporary packs of lentils don’t have the stones or twigs they did 30 years ago. Thank goodness! Usually you will need no more than 2-3 tablespoons of dried lentils per sprouting instance. As you will see, I sometimes do two varieties of sprout at the same time (in different containers).
I always rinse the lentils clean of dust and dirt. Then I soak them for 24 hours in plenty of water. If you have ever soaked chick peas and the like overnight for cooking, you will know they soak up lots of water, so you will need at very least triple the amount of water to lentils. I don’t mess about and ensure the lentils are in lots of water. This is because some of the skins do leak some of the colour as they soak, and I like to give them a stir from time to time so that all the lentils absorb water evenly.
I remove any skins, broken seeds and stuff after the soaking stage. This can be a bit fiddly, so I spread them on a plate and pick away. Any of the seeds which have gone soft should also be removed. You do not want the broken or soft seeds encouraging viable seeds to rot, and in a few days the broken and soft seeds will smell bad, which is best avoided.
I then rinse the seeds in clean running tap water. You are washing away any dead organic matter, providing clean water for your seeds, and the running water will have some oxygen to help with the germination. Drain in a colander (if the lentils are big) or with a sieve (if they are small like the moth beans). (If you start sprouting alfalfa and the small seeds double check the size of the holes in your sieve!)
If you are only sprouting lentils until they have a little root (or a little tail!), then you can just return them to the bowl or container you used for the soaking. The seeds need some space to grow, so spread them out a little, so they can get some air. All you then need to do is rinse them and drain them twice a day until the little tail is as long as you would like it. You probably will need between 2 to 4 days total for this process. It is these lentils with a root which I use for chaat dishes. You can grow a large batch and cook with them, you can make a chana masala style curry with sprouted lentils. (One tip is that if you are doing moth beans and mung beans, start the moth beans 24 hours before the mung beans and you will find they will be ready to harvest at the same time, which for me was 3 days this instance.)
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| Moth bean and mung bean sprouts |
If you want to grow them so that you get the first leaves and a proper leaf sprout, then you might want to think about a sprouting container. [The scientific name for the little tail is the radicle. The leaf part is the plumule. Thank you double GCSE science!] All you need is a decent sized glass jar, and you can improvise with a piece of fabric and a rubber band. If you prefer, you can buy dedicated sprouting jars with a grille for drainage in either metal or plastic. I bought an A Vogel “Biosnacky” plastic and glass sprouting jar, which has been in use for many years. If you really want to grow sprouts in volume, check out their three storey clear plastic sprouter; this would be great for microherb salads and growing bean sprouts for stir fries, if you can spare the counter/windowsill space. Once again, spread the seeds out to allow them space to breathe and grow.
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| Sprouting jar - soaking stage |
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| Sprouting jar - harvest stage |
If you are growing to obtain a sprout, and especially with bean sprouts (mung beans), because this will take several days, you should not just rinse and drain the sprouts twice a day, but check that none have gone soft or started to rot. Remove any which are soft.
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| Young bean sprouts (mung bean sprouts) |
While you are growing your sprouts, try to make sure they do not dry out completely. You want them damp, but not wet (to avoid rotting), and you do not want them to dry out or the root will not grow. A few drops of water or a light spray of clean water will help.
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| Green lentil sprouts with plumule |
When your sprouts are ready, give them one final rinse and drain. Tasting to check them is not a bad idea; as the leaves grow, the flavour of the sprouts will become stronger. You might see some little hairs, and if they are the same colour as the root and they disappear when you rinse, these are most likely root hairs. Mould is unlikely unless your seeds were old, or the conditions were warm, humid or dark. (I don’t sprout my seeds in the dark as they are more likely to rot.) Pick out any ungerminated seeds and anything which has gone soft, or not developed properly. Try to dry off by placing on clean tea towels. You can then box them up, and put them in the fridge. Provided the fridge is cool and dry, the sprouts should last a week. Enjoy your sprouts!
Before growing you next batch of sprouts, make sure you have cleaned your sprouting jar or other equipment thoroughly, as there may have been bacteria which have grown alongside your seeds and you don’t want to transfer them to your new batch.
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