Mung Bean Sprouts
I have been consuming a lot of sprouts recently. Love how this simple bean become much more nutritious when they are sprouted. I have been adding it to salads, stir fries. Specially I love it with my fruit salad. Making sprouts at home is not at all a big deal. It is so easy to make, I have been buying sprouts from shop all these days. But when I discovered the art of making it at home, I never go back to the supermarket stuff. You can sprouts any whole bean of your choice. You can consume these sprouted beans even raw or in salads. They are so protein rich substance to add to your diet.
What is Mung Bean?
Mung bean is also known as moong bean, green gram in English or pacha payaru in Tamil is a staple legume in Indian & Asian countries. This legume is used in cooking savoury and sweet dishes all around the world. Some of the popular recipe using mung beans are payaru payasam, bean mochi. But the most popular and nutritious way to consume mung bean is sprouted. It is healthy and rich in protein so it is very popular with vegetarians and body builders.
About Homemade Mung Bean Sprouts
Mung bean sprouts is also known as moong bean sprouts or simple bean sprouts. Sprouts that grow from mung beans is very healthy and is used specially in making salads or consumed raw. Green gram is naturally high in protein and also in carb. But once you sprout them the protein content doubles up. So it is more beneficial to consume mung beans sprouted. Sprouts also contains high magnesium, anti-oxidants, fibre. Sprouts are now easily available in super markets and vegetable stores, but growing sprouts at home is economical, budget friendly and very easy. Homemade sprouts are more healthy because it is made fresh without any preservatives. In this blog post, I have shared 2 easy method of growing sprouts. First method is a basic everyday sprouts which usually grows in one day. The second one is bean sprouts which take nearly 7 days to grow, it is long, slender and used in many Asian recipes like stir fries, noodles, ramen.
Recipes Using Sprouts
Sprouts Kosambari Sprouts Chaat Moong Sprouts Tikki Salad
Watch Sprouts Making Video (2 Ways)
Bean Sprouts Ingredients
The one and only ingredients used in making or growing sprouts is moong beans also known as mung beans, green gram, pacha payaru or payaru. Try and source good quality organic mung beans for making sprouts. Since sprouts are considered to be consumed raw, it is very important to go with best quality and organic green gram. I usually find mine in amazon. Wash green gram multiple times by gently rubbing on it, it ensures the legume is completely clean. Also you have to soak the green gram for atleast 8 hours, preferably overnight.
In this blog post, you will be finding two version of bean sprouts. Asian continent depending on the country, sprouts are made differently. In India you will normally use beans with short sprouts (typically sprouted for a day). This sprouts are usually consumed as it is raw for its protein content. It is popular with vegetarians and body builders. People like to add it to salads, soups and rice dishes. Chinese, Korean & Thai cuisine grow their sprouts for a longer period of time (typically for 5 to 6 days). These sprouts grow longer with slender stalks like texture. This is used in stir fries, ramen, noodles and soups. In Korea, a popular side dish made with bean sprouts is Kongnamul Muchim which is a stir fried bean sprouts with seasoning. Bean sprouts is also added in pad thai, ramen and other noodle dishes.
Methods for Growing Sprouts
There are many methods for growing sprouts at home. Mung bean is a small tight packed legume so the sprouts go faster than you think. Typically it grows overnight. You don’t need special equipments or sprout maker to grow sprouts. Grows in a container - You can grow sprouts in regular container, Sprouts needs some warmth and moisture to grow. Soak beans and strain it completely. Take the sprouts in a bowl with lid, cover and allow it to sprout. In this method, sprouts usually grow within a day. in Casserole (hot case) - this is the method I use to sprout green gram. Soak and strain green gram, take it in a casserole. Cover and allow it to sprout overnight. I usually start soaking the green gram in the morning. I strain the soaked beans before I go to bed. Take it in a casserole, cover and let it sprout overnight. Easy method. Sprouts using Cloth - once beans is soaked and strained, take it in a clean cloth. Tie it tightly and hang overnight to sprout.
How to Grow Sprouts at Home (Stepwise Pictures)
Washing & Soaking Mung Beans
1)Try and source good quality organic mung beans for making sprouts. Take mung beans in a bowl, wash them multiple times in water. Take them in a bowl.
2)Cover the mung beans with water.
3)Make sure it is completely submerged in water.
4)Cover the bowl with a lid and leave them to soak for 8 to 10 hours. Typically I leave them to soak overnight.
5)This is how the beans look after its been soaked.
Sprouting Mung Beans
6)Strain the mung beans in a colander. Rinse them slightly with fresh water. 7)Take the strained mung beans in a casserole or hot case. 8)Cover the casserole and leave them to sprout overnight or for 8 to 10 hours. 9)Mung beans is sprouted. Once the beans is sprouted, transfer this to a container and store in fridge.
How to Grow Bean Sprouts (Asian Variety)
Few days back I decided to make some Asian & Korean dishes. Some of the recipes calls for bean sprouts. In my super market the asian long bean sprouts is not available, so I decided to grow my own bean sprouts. It is very easy and straight forward, you need only mung beans and few days to spare. There are few important steps to be followed for growing bean sprouts. Soak mung beans overnight for best result. When sprinkling mung beans in cheese cloth lined sieve, make sure it is in a single layer. Don’t cover the container in which we are growing sprouts tightly, ensure there is some air flow. Make sure you rinse them daily with cold water so the beans doesn’t get stinky. You can harvest the mung beans from 4 to 5 days.
How to Grow Sprouts in 6 Days
Soaking Mung Beans
1)Try and source good quality organic mung beans for making sprouts. Take mung beans in a bowl, wash them multiple times in water. Take them in a bowl Cover them with water and soak mung bean in water overnight. Make sure it is completely submerged in water. 2)Now the beans are soaked. It is important to soak mung beans for 10 hours minimum, you can leave to to soak overnight. 3)Strain the beans in a colander. Rinse them slightly with fresh water.
Set up for Growing Sprouts
4)Now let’s set up a station for growing sprouts. Take a sifter or sieve. You can use a flat sieve or strainer with fine holes. 5)Line the sieve with a cheese cloth. Cloth helps strain excess water and ensure there is some moisture for the sprouts to grow. 6)Layer the soaked mung beans on the sieve. Make sure it is in a single layer. 7)Now take a large container which has height. Invert a small bowl in the base of the container. 8)Place the sieve inside the container. Make sure the container is deep enough, because the sprouts will grow longer. 9)Cover the container with a cheese cloth. Keep this container away from direct sunlight, at room temperature in a cool place.
Day 1 of Growing Bean Sprouts
10)This is how the sprouts looks on day 1. You will see small sprouts popping out of the mung beans. 11)Rinse the sprouted mung beans really well in plenty of water. Make sure every sprouts is washed well. Once beans is washed well, you can shake it gently to remove excess water. Now place the beans back into the same container. If there is any water left in the base of the container, drain it and wash the container before placing the sieve back into the pot.
Day 2 of Growing Bean Sprouts
12)Now it is day 2 of the growing sprouts. You will see the sprouts grown even longer. 13)Repeat the same steps again. Wash it well, strain it completely and place it back into the same pot.
Growth of Sprouts for Next Few Days
14)This is how the sprouts looks on Day 3, some sprouts where longer than others. 15)This is how the sprouts looks on Day 4. 16)Day 5. This is how the sprouts looks. You can start harvesting the sprouts from now onwards. 17)This is Day 6 of the mung bean sprouts. I felt the bean sprouts looks perfect length. So I harvested the bean sprouts today. 18)Remove the bean sprouts from cheese cloth, hold them together and shake gently to remove any mung beans skin from the bunch. Now cut the roots together using a sharp knife. You can use immediately or store in fridge wrapped in paper towel.
Expert Tips
Tips for Mung Bean Sprouts (Indian Variety)
If you don’t have a hot case. You can put them in a clean cloth and tie them. Now keep them in side a clean bowl and leave them overnight. Drain the soaked bean completely before putting them in the hot case. if you want longer sprouts leave them out for a more time. Always store them in an air tight container in fridge. You can follow this method to make sprouts with any bean like channa, mochai, peanuts, urad dal. But the soaking time with vary.
Tips for Mung Bean Sprouts (Asian Variety)
Make sure this sprout container is not under direct sunlight and keep it in a cold place. Rinsing moong bean daily is very important. If you can rinse in the morning and evening. Rinsing helps remove the stinky smell. You can harvest the moong sprouts from 5th day onwards. Remove the roots, but you can keep the leaves.
More Recipes Using Mung Bean Sprouts
📖 Recipe Card
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