It is simple to sprout legumes and they will add a boost of raw, living food to your diet. The sprouting process unlocks nutrients that are difficult to obtain from dried legumes and increases the vitamin C content. Sprinkle sprouts over soups and salads or add to sandwiches.
Most legumes can be sprouted, but mung beans, lentils and peas are the most commonly used. You can buy fancy sprouting devices from health-food and organics stores, but a jar with a mesh lid is just as effective.
It is essential to source legumes that haven’t been heat-treated as those that have may not sprout. Check with the supplier. The following makes approximately 2 cups.
STEP 1. SPROUT
Place ⅓ cup lentils or mung beans or ½ cup of peas or chickpeas in a 1 litre sprouting jar. Cover with 2 cups of filtered water and screw on the mesh lid (or use a single layer of muslin cloth attached with a rubber band). Soak the legumes for 10-12 hours.
STEP 2. DRAIN
Drain the water from the legumes through the mesh lid. Rinse with cold running water then drain all the water away. Sit the jar upside down in a bowl and at an angle so that the excess water can drain out.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel to keep direct light off the sprouts.
STEP 3. RINSE
Rinse the legumes every 12 hours with cold running water and drain through the mesh lid. Then, invert the jar at an angle again. Over the next three to four days the legumes will begin to sprout.
Once the sprout tail is at least 10mm long they are ready. Tip into an airtight container and store in the fridge. Eat the legumes within five day
