Homemade Moong Sprouts and Sprouts Stir Fry

Today is one of those days where I don’t know what to write or rather not in a mood to write much but lots of pictures. I usually write at least 2-5 sentences between each picture. This way I feel the post is balanced with pictures as well as some content to read. Since there isn’t much to write and after lot of filtering, I selected three pictures for this post. I have two more on my photoblog.

Today I shall share how I make moong beans sprouts at home and a very quick snack for this month's ongoing Cooking Carnival, Cooking with Protein Rich Ingredients. Sprouts are more nutritious than the bean itself and do not require too much of cooking either. The process of sprouting itself is time consuming. Beans are soaked for few hours to up to a day, then kept in a damp place to germinate. I make moong sprouts once in awhile and eat it like a snack or add some to soups or salads. My go to snack with sprouts is either stir fried sprouts or seasoned microwave sprouts.

Sprouts stir fry is not a recipe as such and seasoned microwave sprouts is even simpler. For microwave sprouts, I season sprouts with salt, chili powder, garlic, add little bit of oil and microwave for a minute or two, just until the raw smell of the beans disappears. That’s it! This is my go to recipe most of the time. Recipes for homemade sprouts and stir fried sprouts follows.

How to Make Sprouts
Yields: at least 4-5 cups of sprouts (I did not measure but got 1 qt box & 3 cups box full of sprouts)

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Moong Beans ~ Green Gram

Preparation:

Wash moong beans and soak for 12 - 24 hours. Lately, moong soaked overnight is not sprouting well. I soak for 24 hours.
Next day, wash the moong beans again and put in a colander or a strainer. I put it in a strainer. Let the water drain.
Put the strainer on a bowl, wrap the strainer with saran or cling wrap. Put it in a warm dark place. I put it in the oven.
By next day beans will start sprouting. I usually leave it for two days. This time I left it for 3-4 days.
I prefer to sprout in a strainer and find it easy this way. Other option is to loosely tie the beans in a muslin or cheesecloth. Even a cotton scarf or dupatta will work. Place this in a box or a container and cover it. Do not tie the cloth tight as I did in the below picture. This time I sprouted half the beans in a strainer and the other half in a cheese cloth. The top two pictures in the collage are of soaked beans in a strainer, wrapped with cling wrap and sprouted beans. The bottom pictures are of beans tied in a cheese cloth, before and after sprouting.

Once the beans sprout, wash and store in a closed container in the fridge. Sprouts will continue to grow even when refrigerated but at a slow rate. Use as required.

Moong Sprouts Stir Fry
Ingredients:

1 cup Moong Sprouts
¾ - 1 tsp. Oil
⅛ Cumin
1 Green Chili chopped
1 medium sized clove of Garlic, minced
¼ of a small Onion, chopped
1 Green Onion, chopped
Salt to taste
Pinch of Turmeric
Cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

Wash and leave the sprouts in a strainer.
Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add cumin and green chilies.
When chilies are lightly roasted, add garlic, let fry for few seconds.
Add onions, scallions and saute for few seconds.
Add salt, turmeric and mix.
Add sprouts and saute for 1 -2 minutes, just until raw taste of moong is gone.
Turn off the flame, transfer to a bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Note:

I used only green chilies for heat. A combination of green chilies and chili powder or only chili powder can be used based on one’s preference.
I don’t saute onions for too long as I want to retain the crunchiness of onion. I saute it for few seconds to mellow raw onion smell & taste.
This is a very versatile stir fry and use spices and herbs of choice.
Do not saute sprouts for too long to retain most of the nutrients.

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