How To Sprout Grains And Legumes
Did you know that sprouted grains and legumes are a lot healthier for you than their non sprouted counterparts? Sprouted grains and legumes are more nutritious, less allergenic (if you have food sensitivities) and are more easily digested. They also contain less of the harmful phytic acid, which is what Paleo-diet followers are trying to avoid. If you knew that already, then you also know how expensive these are!
I am going to show you how to easily sprout your grains and beans and it will only take a few minutes (5 mins max) in the morning and in the evening.
I’ve tried several methods and none were as successful as my own version below. And, as a bonus, you can make big batches of your sprouted grains and legumes, cook them and then freeze for later use.
What you will need is:
-1-2 large colanders (I prefer 2 and will explain why below)
-baking tray
-kitchen towel
Instructions:
NOTE: I have tried this with black beans, lentils, chickpeas, quinoa and buckwheat. This method works great for these foods. I also tried this on red kidney beans but didn’t get to see the sprouts, perhaps because I ran out of patience. I also think this should work well with rice, but this is to be discovered.
1. Soak your grains, beans, legumes according to instructions, just like you would before cooking. Beans and legumes roughly overnight and grains, depending on the grain, from about 2 hours (think buckwheat) to 10 hours (think rice).
I’m going to use chickpeas as an example for the next steps, but the steps are identical to whatever you are sprouting.
2. Next, take a colander, preferably a big one such as in below picture ….
… and line it with a paper towel
Place the colander on top of the baking tray, or anything that would catch drips of water. You don’t want it sitting on the naked kitchen counter.
The reason I line it up with a paper towel is because we will put soaked and moist chickpeas there to start the sprouting process. If you skip this step and use the colander for a prolonged period of time it might begin to rust.
This is why I: A: Line it up with paper towel, and B: Use two colanders so that there is never a chance for rusting.
3. Rinse your chickpeas under cold water and put it in the colander lined with paper towel.
4. Spread the chickpeas with your fingers so that the chickpeas is sitting on top of other chickpeas in 2 – 4 layers max. If you dump too much chickpeas on top of each other, there won’t be enough air circulation for uniform sprouting. And who knows, it might potentially grow mold? I’ve never tried.
5. Cover with hand towel completely and let sit for about 12 hours, depending on what you’re sprouting. See rough guidelines below. We are striving for a slightly moist environment here.
6. Every morning and every evening, rinse your chickpeas really well under cold clean water, place it in the second, clean, dry colander lined with clean dry paper towel and cover with towel.
7. Repeat until you see sprouts, or little tails coming out of the chickpeas.
Don’t let them grow too long. Short tails is what you are looking for. Your chickpeas is now ready to be cooked. The cooking time I find is shorter than for the non sprouted beans/grains so check on it periodically while cooking. Sprouted chickpeas cooks in about 30 mins for me. Enjoy!
Note: Keep in mind that you can stop sprouting at any time and just cook your grains/beans. You don’t have to wait to see the sprouts if you can’t wait. The food just won’t be sprouted all the way, which is fine. Little sprouting is better than no sprouting at all.
Also, dedicate a special clean colander just for sprouting. You want it to be clean.
How long does it take to sprout?
-Chickpeas about 24-36 hours
-Green lentils, buckwheat: 12-24 hours
-Black beans: about 24 hours