LIVE TO COOK

As I had mentioned earlier, I am a budding gardener. Apartment dwelling and the Northeast weather confined my exploration to indoors only.

“You Cheater!”, my friend D smiles at me.

“OK, D! I confess”. I always think twice before buying the pots,soil and seeds. “Why waste all the money, when you are not sure whether the plants grow in a limited space and sunlight?” is my argument always. I grow the plants that can grow well inside and whose seeds can be taken from my pantry itself. That is why sprouts are my favorites always.

Though I grow the sprouts and shoots in soil, my frugal mind always complains about the seeds that get wasted in the soil. This led me to search for a way to grow sprouts without soil that I can get both the sprouts and the seeds for my salad. After reading “When in doubt, sprout”, which suited my need, I started my explorations of growing my salad in a jar. I am learning the in and outs of the process and will share with you the secrets that I find along the path.

Here we go, Horse gram sprouts!

Horse gram is similar to Moth bean. It is called “Kollu” in Tamil. It is a renowned fodder for horses which made it less popular as human food. But, this legume is high in iron and protein.

Things you need to get started:

1 glass jar of your choice
Horse gram seeds for sprouting (I will tell you how to measure the amount of seed needed, in the next few lines)
A small piece of cheese cloth or similar that can cover the mouth of glass jar
1 Rubber band

Method:

• Fill the glass jar with water by measuring 1 cup at a time. Suppose the jar holds 2 cups water, then we can grow 2 Table spoons of tiny seeds (like mustard seeds) and 1 Table spoon of seeds like peas, into sprouts.
• Over crowding of seeds will result in poor air circulation and lead to seed rot. So take care not to add more seeds than the Jar can hold.
  
• Soak the seeds in water for 8 – 12 hours. Changing the water once or twice is good.
• Cover the mouth of the jar with the cheese cloth and fasten with the rubber band.

Horse gram soaked

• When the seeds turn plump, tilt the jar over the sink that the water drains completely.
• Store the jar in a darker place or away from direct sunlight.
• Once in a while fill the jar with water, give it a swirl and drain completely. This will keep the seeds moist.
• After four days of the above process, the sprouts would have grown taller and you will notice a small split in the sprouted stem.
• Move the jar near the bright window.
  
• Since I didn’t know how to measure the seeds earlier, I added 4-5 table spoons of seeds that the sprouts grew beyond the jar. So, I transfered the seeds to a casserole dish and covered loosely with a glass pie plate. The idea is to give a green house effect.

Horse sprout in a Casserole dish

• Keep washing the sprouts once in a while. In a day or two, you will notice tiny leaves appearing in the sprouts. Keep near the window for one more day until the leaves turn green and develops some chlorophyll.
• Sprouts are ready for salad. You can refrigerate the sprouts up to 1 week.
  
• A jar that can hold 2 cups water will yield sprouts to make salad for 2 persons per meal.

Horse Sprout - Closer view

I will talk about how I used the sprouts in the next post.