How to make Sprouts at home | Home made Moong Sprouts

Preparing sprouts is again a weekly affair for me. I prepare sprouts twice a week as they are very healthy and rich in proteins. We prefer to eat sprouts salad as breakfast at least 2-3 days in a week and also in misal and usal and I usually reserve the hot breakfast variety for weekends. I prepare sprouts with whole Moong or Moth beans as they are quick to prepare and are good for salads compared to other beans as we don't need to cook them. Making sprouts at home is a very easy task but one should use good quality beans to make the sprouts. The climatic conditions play a key role in dictating the time required for sprouting. Sprouting time, in humid climate like Mumbai - moong beans would take 15-18 hrs to get a good size sprouts where as black chickpeas and other hard variety beans would take up to 2 days. Usually for moong beans it would not take more than 24 hours in any climatic conditions if you take the needed measures to prepare it.

I usually do not buy ready made sprouts though they are available in markets these days easily as I am not sure of water they use and also I doubt about the freshness of the sprouts. I buy alfalfa sprouts as I am yet to prepare my own alfalfa sprouts at home. Sprouts are very versatile and you can use them in various varieties ranging from salads, snacks like vada, breakfast varieties like sprouts poha, sprouts adai, sprouts sandwich and also in stir fries, gravies, misal, usal and also the steamed sprouts are used in various chaats like golgappa, dahi puri, dahi misal etc.

Try making the sprouts often and eat them to stay healthy. Eat healthy and stay longer!!

Check out few more DIY recipes in my blog:

• How to make Garam Masala Powder - North Indian Style
• How to make Green Chili Paste 
• How to make Ginger Garlic Paste
• How to make Paneer(Cottage Cheese) | Homemade Paneer
• How to make Rice flour at home | Processed Rice Flour 

Homemade Moong Sprouts Recipe:

Yields 3-4 cups

Prep time: 2 mins | Standing time: 20-24 hrs + Soaking time of 6-8 hrs

Category: Kitchen Basics

Ingredients:

1 cup whole green Moong beans (Green Gram/ Hara Moong/ Pesalu/ Hesarukaalu)

Water, to soak

Method:

• Clean the moong beans by checking for any stones or broken beans and remove them.
• Wash the moong beans 2-3 times and soak it in water (3-4 cups roughly) for 6-8 hours or overnight.

cleaned and soaked moong beans

• Rinse again the soaked moong beans and place them in a container or drop them in a wet muslin cloth or let them stay in the container itself.

moong beans after soaking overnight and drained

• If you are using container, cover it with a lid and place a heavy weight on it and keep it in a dark place. I used my marble chapati stone for it, but you can skip keeping any weight too.

covered and left to sprout for 12-15 hrs

• Alternatively you can place them in a wet muslin cloth and bring the edges together and secure it loosely and then tie it to to any kitchen rod or anywhere.Keep checking in between, if the cloth has become dry sprinkle little water on it. 

tied and hanged in a wet muslin cloth to let them sprout

• Keep it undisturbed for 12-15 hours.
• If you are sprouting in a vessel you can check it after 12-15 hours roughly but do not try to pop it over or mix it.If the sprouts are of good size the way you want you can use them immediately, if not keep it covered and undisturbed for another 5-6 hrs. It depends on the climatic conditions, in Mumbai it takes 15-18 hrs to get good sized sprouts.In colder places it might even take one full day-24 hrs.I would nto suggest you to keep for more than 24 hrs as it will make sprouts bit sticky.
• If you are using muslin cloth you can see the sprouts popping out from the cloth and hence you don't need to open it and see but make sure that the cloth would not become too dry in between as it will not help the sprouts to grow.
• Once the sprouts are formed nicely, use it immediately or store in refrigerator in an air tight container for 1-2 days and use when required.

Use the sprouts in various recipes like stir fry, salads, filling for chaats, misal,snacks, usal, gravies, sprouts adai etc.

Notes:

• If the sprouts become slightly sticky means you have kept it for longer than needed with more moisture in it.You can rinse them and use.
• Once the sprouts are formed you use it immediately or in a day or two, if kept for longer they might taste slightly bitter.
• You can follow the same process for various beans like Moth Beans, horse gram, green peas, yellow peas, white chickpeas, black chickpeas, black peas(kala vatana), black eyed peas(lobia) etc..basically any whole beans with skin. The sprouting time varies from bean to bean while the quickest one is moth beans which takes only 10-12 hrs and the black chickpeas and black peas(kala vatana) takes the longest 2 days, while the rest would be done in 24-30 hrs.

Now we have learnt how to make sprouts at home, so let us also look how we can use them in our cooking:

• Green Whole Moong Adai
• Sprouts Fried Rice | Moong Sprouts Chinese style Fried Rice
• Moong Sprouts Salad
• Misal Pav
• Golgappa/Pani Puri
• Mixed Sprouts Adai
• Sprouts Salad-Chaat Style

Technorati Tags: how to make sprouts at home, home made sprouts, moong bean sprouts, moong sprouts, sprouts recipes, how to sprout the beans, moongbean sprouts at home, healthy sprouts recipes

Read More»

Sprouts Fried Rice Recipe | Easy Lunch Box Ideas

Fried rice is an easy lunch option for me on weekdays as it is the most convenient one pot meal to prepare.While most of the times I prepare Chinese Vegetable Fried rice as it is the best way to consume lots of vegetables, I also prepare Sprouts fried rice if I have sprouts at hand.It is almost prepared in the same way as we prepare fried rice,but here in this recipe we use larger quantities of sprouts relative to vegetables to enhance the flavor of the dish.It is an ideal recipe even for lunch box.

Moong Sprouts Fried Rice Recipe:

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice

1 cup whole Moong Sprouts(Green gram)*

1/4 cup Cabbage,shredded

1/2 Green/Red Capsicum,finely chopped

3-4 bulbs of Spring Onion whites,sliced thin

3 stalks of Spring Onion greens,chopped

1 tsp Garlic,finely chopped

1 tsp Ginger,finely chopped

1 tsp Soya sauce

1/2 tsp Vinegar

1/2 tsp Black pepper powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Method:

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 10 mins.Cook it in a pot full of water over open flame until done and drain the rice or pressure cook the rice with 1 and 3/4th cups of water for 1 whistle and cook for 4-5 mins on low flame.Spread the rice on a wide plate and apply 1 tsp of olive oil to it so that the rice grains remains separate and let the rice cool completely.
• Heat olive oil and sesame oil in a big wok and add finely chopped garlic and ginger and fry well.You should do this rice in high flame,so keep all the ingredients ready before you start and saute the ingredients quickly.
• Add sliced spring onion whites and fry for a minute.
• Add shredded cabbage and finely chopped capsicum and fry again on HIGH flame for 1-2 minutes.
• Now add moong sprouts and spring onion greens and quickly saute for another minute.
• Add soya sauce,vinegar,salt and pepper powder and quickly saute now.I usually add a pinch of sugar now which balances the sauce taste.It is your wish to add sugar or not.
• Add cooled and separated cooked rice and quickly stir fry the rice so that it mixes with the vegetables nicely.Do this gently and take care that you would not mash up the rice.Stir fry or toss it on high flame for 2 mins.

Serve it hot with Tomato sauce/Ketchup or as it is.

* To make Moong sprouts  - Wash and soak whole green gram(moong) in water overnight for 12-14 hrs.Drain all the water and tie the sprouts in a thin muslin cloth and hang it to a stick(or nail) for 15-16 hrs or bit longer until you see the sprouts.Keep sprinkling some water in between to keep them moist.

Notes:

• In chinese cooking Ajinamoto(chinese salt) is added to give extra taste,I have not added to it as it is supposedly not good for health.If you would like to add feel free to add 1/2 tsp Ajinamoto along with pepper powder.
• It is always better to use finely chopped ginger and garlic bits in the recipe instead of Ginger-Garlic paste as a bite into crisp ginger adds a nice taste while eating fried rice.
• I recommend you to refrigerate the cooled rice at least for half an hour which helps the rice in holding the shape while frying.
• The entire cooking is to be done over a high flame which helps in retaining the crispiness of vegetables and sprouts and the flavor of the dish,so you should be quick while sauteing the veggies and rice.
• I have used dark soya sauce in the recipe,if you are using light or regular soya sauce increase it to 1 tsp soya sauce.
• You can use bean sprouts instead of moong sprouts in the recipe.

 

Read More»

CANAPE SEV PURI | Fillings for CANAPES

I have mentioned in many of my posts that chaats are usually a part of our meal and get featured very frequently in our menu at my place.When ever I go to shopping I would end up buying a pack of golgappas or papdis or canapes as these three are the most common bases for any chaat and I keep experimenting new chaats and apart from the usual ones.This recipe was sitting in my drafts from a very long time and I kept postponing as I was not happy with the pictures and finally I am posting the same.

These kind of Canapes are easily available in the market these days (I got the brand called DIP) and these are very versatile and are good for finger food for parties.I have earlier posted a recipe where I used an Italian filling for Canapes,today's recipe is more of a simple sev puri filling which is quite suitable for Indian palates.One can get creative with the fillings and experiment various flavors.I usually make American corn sev puri with these canapes which I would post some other time.Now off to the recipe.

Canape Sev Puri Recipe:

(Serves 2- you can easily double the recipe)

Ingredients:
14-16 Canapes(Ready made)

1/3 cup Moong sprouts,steamed
2 Potatoes,boiled,peeled and chopped
1 Onion,finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh Coriander
1/3 cup fine Sev
1/4 cup Kharjur-Imli chutney
1/4 cup Green chutney
1 tbsp roasted Cumin powder
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Chaat masala
Salt to taste

Oil,to deep fry canapes

Method:

• Pressure cook potatoes for 3 whistles.Add enough salt to potatoes while cooking them.Peel the potatoes and chop them into fine pieces.
• Steam moong sprouts with a pinch of salt for 5-6 mins.
• Deep fry canapes in oil for few seconds until they turn crisp,follow the instructions given at the back of the packet.I usually bake them in oven for 2-3 mins at 160 deg C.I keep a close watch to check whether they are done or not,so if you are baking them in oven please have a close look at them.
• Arrange the canapes in 2 plates,7-8 each.

• Fill them with 1/2 tsp steamed moong sprouts and then followed by 1 tsp boiled and chopped potatoes.
• Add 1/2 tsp chopped onion in each puri.

• Add little bit of kharjur -imli chutney and green chutney.
• Again top it with a generous drizzle of kharjur-imli chutney and green chutney.
• Sprinkle a fat pinch of roasted cumin powder,red chili powder,chaat masala and salt.

• Top it with sev generously and garnish with coriander.

Serve it immediately.

Do not keep it for long as it will become soggy,so prepare this just before serving,Keep all the ingredients ready before you serve this.

 

 Notes:

• There are no specific measurements for this recipe.All the ingredients are adjusted according to your taste buds.
• You can make more number of plated increasing the quantities accordingly,there are no measurements.
• You can use cooked  and slightly mashed white chickpeas instead of moong sprouts in the recipe.
• You can garnish with few pomegranate kernels at the end.

Read More»

DAHI PURI | CHAAT RECIPES

While going through my recipe index a few days back, I noticed that there were a very few chaat recipes in my blog. Shouldn't be unexpected though from a chaat lover like me as I eat them before it could get photographed. I have not posted many of these recipes earlier but you would definitely see most of them in my blog very soon.
While I love all kind of chaat varieties, my all time favorite is Golgappa/Pani puri and Bangarpet Pani Puri.Apart from those pani puri varieties, I love masala puri, sev puri, papdi chat and dahi puri. Back home apart from my dad, we are all chaat lovers .While we eat chaats as a meal but my dad always prefers to eat it as a evening snack and so is the case with my husband now.Now I have successfully converted him so he can also have Golgappe and Bangarpet Pani puri as a meal.

Coming to today's chaat recipe,Dahi puri is one of the easiest chaat to prepare and would always turn out delicious.The balance of sweetened curds with the tangy and spicy chutneys in a crisp puri shell filled with sprouts and potatoes is definitely a winner on any palate.I am sure most of you would have tried this at least once,if you had not tried it I would suggest to give this lip smacking chaat recipe a try for sure.

Dahi Puri | Dahi Poori Chaat Recipe:
(makes 2 plates- you can easily double,triple the recipe)

Ingredients:
14 small puffed puris(Homemade/Readymade)
1/3 cup Moong sprouts,steamed
2 Potatoes,boiled,peeled and chopped
1 Onion,finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh Coriander
1/3 cup fine Sev
1 1/2 cups fresh thick Curd
2-3 tbsp Sugar
1/4 cup Kharjur-Imli chutney
1/4 cup Green chutney
1 tbsp roasted Cumin powder
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Chaat masala
Salt to taste
Method:

• Add enough salt to potatoes while cooking them.Peel the potatoes and chop them into fine pieces.
• Steam moong sprouts with a pinch of salt for 5-6 mins.
• Beat fresh curds nicely and add sugar,salt and 1tsp roasted cumin powder and mix well.
• Gently poke a small hole in puris and arrange them on 2 plates,7 each.

• Fill them with 1/2 tsp steamed moong sprouts and then followed by 1 tsp boiled and chopped potatoes.
• Add 1/2 tsp chopped onion in each puri.

• Add little bit of kharjur -imli chutney and green chutney.Then add beaten curd generously(3-4 tbsp) to each puri,do not bother even if curd flows all over the puri.Pour the remaining curds all over the puris(I missed to show this step in the photos).

• Again top it with a generous drizzle of kharjur-imli chutney and green chutney.
• Sprinkle a fat pinch of roasted cumin powder,red chili powder,chaat masala and salt.

• Top it with sev generously and garnish with coriander.

Serve it immediately.
Do not keep it for long as it will become soggy,so prepare this just before serving,Keep all the ingredients ready before you serve this.
Notes:

• There are no specific measurements for this recipe.All the ingredients are adjusted according to your taste buds.
• You can make more number of plated increasing the quantities accordingly,there are no measurements.

I know many of you must be drooling over this delicious Dahi puri,hence thought of treating you all with this one.

Read More»

Moong Sprouts Salad

Sprouts are very healthy as it contains more nutrients when compared to other foods and is very essential to include them in our daily diet.Many people do not like sprouts because of the raw smell, but when they are mixed with lots of vegetables and fruits and is mixed well with a sweet and spicy dressing the salad will be very tastier and one can hardly make out the rawness of those sprouts.This is one of the regular variety of sprouts salad which I make at home for breakfast.This sprouts salad goes to the event 'Let's Sprout' hosted by priya and also to siri's "My Legumes Love affair(MLLA) # 25" started by Susan.

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh moong sprouts( I used 1/2 cup moong and 1/2 cup matki/moth sprouts)
1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber
1/4 cup sweet pomegranate kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped/grated carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 tbsp finely chopped raw mango pieces
1 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp chopped dried apricots or dates or raisins
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

for the dressing:
3-4 finely chopped/minced green chillies
1/2 tsp grated ginger(optional)
1/4 tsp chat masala
generous drizzle of lemon juice
few drops of honey(optional)
salt to taste


Method:

• Take a wide deep bowl and add the sprouts,carrot,raw mango,tomato,onion,cucumber pieces and mix well.
• Add chopped walnuts,apricots,coriander and mix well.
• For the dressing take a small bowl and squeeze in the juice of one lemon and add salt,3-4 drops of honey,chat masala and mix well.Add grated ginger and minced green chillies and mix well.
• Add the dressing to the sprouts mix and mix well.

Serve it fresh or keep it in refrigerator for 15 mins and serve cold.

Verdict: Clean bowled a bowl of salad within few mins.

Variations:

• You can avoid onions,honey,ginger in the above salad and add grated coconut instead and also add a tadka of mustard and hing to the salad.
• You can even add raw soaked groundnuts,chopped fresh grapes,sliced oranges/mosambi for different flavors.

Read More»

Mixed Sprouts Adai

I generally make big batch of sprouts and sprouts are best to be consumed within 3-4 days as we should not store sprouts for longer time .Sometimes it happens that I would not be able to comsume it with in time,so I generally turn them into making adai's which are healthy and an instant breakfast which can be done within 15 mins.check my another version of Moong Adai for perfect and crispy Adai's.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Whole Moong sprouts
1/2 cup Matki sprouts ,(moth beans)
1/4 cup small Black eyed peas sprouts(chauli,small lobia)
2-3 tbsp Rice flour
1 tbsp fine chiroti rawa (baarik rawa)
1 medium onion,finely chopped
2 green chillies,slit
a sprig of curry leaves
1/2" ginger,chopped
1 tsp jeera
two pinches of hing
salt to taste
oil


Method:

• Grind the sprouts along with jeera,green chillies,ginger,curry leaves and hing to a coarse mixture.Add little water if required.
• Now add riceflour,chiroti rawa and salt to it and mix well and keep it aside for 10-15 mins.
• Heat Nonstick pan and spray PAM over it(or you can smear some oil over it) and spread adai over it,it should be slightly thicker than the regular dosa .
• Sprinkle finely chopped onions all over it and lightly press with a spatula.pour oil all over from the sides.
• Cover it and cook on medium flame until it is brown and crisp on one side.Now carefully flip it over to the other side and cook until it is crisp on the other side too.
• Serve it right from the pan and on to the plate.

Serve it hot with Ginger chutney.

Note:

• To make sprouts,soak all the dals in water for 5-6 hrs or overnight and wash it atleast once and drain them and tie it in muslin cloth and hang in a dry place for one day.
• You can just make this with whole moong sprouts instead of mixed sprouts by increasing the volume of moong sprouts and following the same procedure.
• If you want crispier Adai's ferment the batter for 4-5hrs(it takes less time to ferment) and then add chiroti rawa and follow the same procedure to prepare adai's.

I am sending this entry for "WYF:Light Meal"-event hosted by EC.

Dal Makhani :


I am sending this entry for "Garnish the Dish"-the first event hosted by these super SIL's Pavithra and Nithya.




Thank you Ambica for sharing your first award with me..It means a lot dearie for me..Thanks a lot.
I would like to pass this award to
Pavithra,
Raks
Rekha
and Lubna.
plz accept my big hug girls..

Read More»

Golgappe / Golgappa / Pani puri

Golgappa is considered as the KING of Chaats and I really doubt if anyone can say no to this chaat anytime.I absolutely love this and would like to eat anytime,even for my breakfast.I rarely make puri's at home as it is easily available in the shops here.As all the chutney's are prepared and stored in advance it really does not need any pre-planning to prepare this chaat at home.This will be our every alternate weekend fare as V feels it is not safe to eat those golgappe outside ,So I prepare them at home and end up having them for dinner.
I am sending this to "RCI:MUMBAI Street Food" event hosted by Aquadaze which was originally started by Lakshmi and also to " Sunday snacks-spill the Beans " Event hosted at Akshayapatram by Priya.

Ingredients:

For Puri:
1 cup fine sooji(Hollige rava)
1 cup Maida
1/2 cup Urad dal flour
1/4 cup Oil
salt to taste
Meetha(Imli) Chutney:200 gm Tamarind
2 cups dried Dates(Kharjur),finely chopped
1 cup Jaggery
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Black salt
1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
salt
Green chutney:1 Bunch of Coriander leaves
1 Bunch of Mint leaves
10-12 green chillies
1" Ginger
Juice of 2 lemons
2-3tbsp sugar
salt to taste
For Pani:1L Water
3/4 Cup green chutney paste
1 tbsp black salt
2-3 tbsp Pani puri Masala(I used Everest)
1/4 tsp lemon salt
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
For Filling:1 cup whole Moong sprouts
2 Alu(potatoes)
1 cup salted boondisalt to taste

Method:

Puri:

• Mix maida, sooji and urad flour with enough salt.
• Heat ¼ cup of oil until hot and pour the oil into the above mixture and add enough water and make it into a medium smooth dough.(do not make it over stiff or very soft).
• Cover the dough with damp cloth and cover it and let it sit for 45 mins.
• Make a big, thin and round poori and using a round cookie cutter cut it into small puri’s.
• Drop them in piping hot oil on high flame and using the spatula pour the hot oil from the sides on top of it and pressing them slightly down which helps in fluffing up the puri’s and reduce the flame and fry them until golden brown.
• Cool them and store them in air-tight boxes. Stays good for 8-10 days.Below is the pic of puri's which I prepared.(and remaining in all the pics are the store bought ones)

Imli Chutney:

• Clean the tamarind and soak in water for sometime(approx half an hour) and boil it for 10-12 mins until soft.
• Cool the mixture and take the pulp out of it. Add Jaggery and Kharjoor to it and boil until it is soft and all the jaggery melts and forms a syrupy liquid.
• Add black salt,red chilli powder,jeera powder and Garam masala to it and mix.
• Cool the mixture and grind it a fine puree.
• Strain it and store it in a bottle in refrigerator. It stays good for 6-8 months.

Green Chutney:

• Wash coriander and mint leaves drain out the extra water and let it drain for 15-20 mins.
• Wash Green chillies and pat dry it.
• Grind Mint,coriander,green chillies,chopped ginger,salt,sugar and lemon juice to a fine paste.
• Pour the mixture in the Ice cube tray and freeze it and remove the cubes from it and place them in a zip lock bag or in a big container in freezer .
• Use it when required.Stays good for 3-4 months.

Pani:

• Mix green chutney with water properly.
• Add sugar,lemon salt,Black salt and pani puri masala to it and mix well until the sugar is melted properly.
• Adjust the pani according to your taste by adding enough salt.
• Chill it for 1-2 hrs.Add some Ice cubes if required before serving it keep it chilled.

Filling:

• Soak green whole Moong in water for 6 hrs and then drain out the water completely from it and place them in sprouts maker and keep it in a warm place for 8-10 hrs until the sprouts are formed.
• Steam the sprouts with little salt for 6-8 mins in a pressure cooker.
• Slightly mash the boiled potato and mix with steamed sprouts and salt.
• Soak Boondi in hot water for 8-10 mins until soft and squeeze out the extra water.
• Add the boondi to the potato mixture and mix properly.

Assembling them together:

• Make small holes in the center of Pani puri and place ½ tsp of potato-sprouts mixture in it and add 1 tsp Imli chutney to it and dip in pani and eat.Adjust the quantities of mixture according to your taste
• Repeat the same for all puri's and enjoy.

and the final look...

Read More»